A Veela Tale
by Severus' Malfoy Maiden
Summary: He turns 21 tomorrow. He's worried. He will come of age and it will start. His father told him what to expect, but still… fear of the unknown. He would soon know what his fate held.
1. Prologue

_A Veela Tale: Prologue_

_Harry_

The war is over; it has been for two and a half years.

After fighting since he was 11; Harry couldn't face the idea of living a life as an auror, so he declined the offer of auror training and opened a Quidditch supply shop in Diagon Alley right next to Ollivanders.

He always has the latest, fastest brooms floating in the window for the students to drool over as they pass by. He also has a kiosk in Hogsmeade Village in order to attend the students during Quidditch season.

He and Ginny are no longer dating.

A month after Harry defeated the dark lord, Ginny found herself in the arms of Millicent Bullstrode. Neither girl expected the experience to be anything more than a drunken experiment, but it turned out to be something both witches enjoyed. They've been together ever since. They both play for the HolyHead Harpies and remain good friends with Harry, seeing as he is the only one from who they buy their gear.

Harry is currently crushing on one Pansy Parkinson. To him she is grace incarnate. She was often teased in school about her pug nose; however, playing quidditch one summer with Draco and Blaise a bludger hit her square in the face breaking her nose.

It was the best thing that could have happened to her.

Harry just happened to be in the hospital at the same time; a victim of one of Ron and George's pranks gone array.

It was love over bandages at St. Mungo's for Harry and Pansy.

They aren't 'dating' per se as she is playing hard to get … and he loves it. He's kissed her only once and she slapped him for it.

Turns out, he likes to be slapped.

She smiled at him after and traced her small fingers across his cheek in a soothing manner. His skin turned into a fire pit at her touch and he has been chasing her since – it's going on four months now; he sees her almost every day as she finds something to buy in the supply shop or sits at the café across the street and watches him from over the top of her latte.

_Ron_

Ron didn't want to bring in the bad guys without Harry so he picked up where Fred left off and joined George as _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_ shop proprietor right down the street from _Harry's High-Flying Supplies_.

George is dating Luna Lovegood and is planning to ask for her hand in marriage this month. He says she keeps him grounded, but anyone who knows the flighty blonde would think it strange that _she_ is the one keeping _him_ grounded.

Ron and Hermione only kissed the one time and they both chalked it up to stress of the moment and thinking that they were going to die in the next few minutes. By mutual decision they remained friends and nothing more.

Ron's hero status after the war gave him the attention he sought from the opposite sex. He is single and loving it. Though, he visits Lavender Brown more and more often; George suspects that his younger brother is falling for his Hogwarts sweetheart once again.

_Hermione_

Hermione took a position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures: Head of the _Being Division_.

She splits her time between the Office for House-Elf Relocation and Werewolf Support Services delegating some of her responsibility for the Goblin Liaison Office to her assistant Pansy Parkinson, as Hermione doesn't get along well with the Goblin representatives.

In her short time working for the Ministry she's managed to change a few important laws regarding werewolves; designating a wooded land reserve in Ireland for them to roam without harming anyone and without worry for being harmed.

This, of course, required collaboration with the Department of International Magical Cooperation: The International Magical Law Division, which is headed by none other than Draco Malfoy. …we'll get to that later.

She was also able to get agreement for Ministry provided Wolfsbane Potion. Werewolves no longer had to pay for it out of pocket; they instead registered with the ministry and received the potion from one of three Potions Masters contracted to brew said potion.

This endeavor also required the assistance of Draco Malfoys division and Draco's long time buddy Blaise Zabini who heads the International Magical Trading Standards Body within the same Department Dracos division reports, because one of the potions masters was outside of the Ministry's jurisdiction.

Werewolves were also encouraged to organize and elect representatives to convey concerns to the Ministry and to solve any issues at the lowest levels without Ministry law enforcement involvement, for instance, if two clans had a violent disagreement, the Werewolf charters would handle it themselves – much like the Veela clans already do- but if a wizard, muggle or other intelligent species (Veela or Centaur) were harmed then an auror, a trusted and werewolf appointed liaison, would investigate the matter fully.

Hermione had designated Remus Lupin the task of organizing the werewolf clans and helping them articulate their concerns. She also requested that he helped them to educate their young as most werewolf clans kept their families close to home for fear of attack, death or shunning.

Remus was paid by her department and was grateful for the steady employment, challenging work and loyal friendship – something he had missed for a number of years.

She doesn't date; has never had a boyfriend. She has kissed two wizards, Viktor Krum and Ron Weasley. She is currently friends with them both.

Usually she is excited about her job, each and every day she is challenged and relishes in her accomplishments. She has been able to make life better for a number of beings, one of them being her close friend Remus.

She doesn't really have time to date and she doesn't think she is the type of witch wizards wanted as their dream woman.

She was studious to a fault, boring, too smart for her own good - _Professor McGonagall said it can intimidate a wizard_ – and not very pretty.

Professor McGonagall became her surrogate mother after death eaters attacked and killed her parents. Bellatrix Le'Strange and Augustus Rookwood were killed during the battle at Hogwarts, so there was no revenge to seek after they were destroyed.

She was going to turn 21 in two days and although she knew in her head that she was very young still, it smarted that she had never had a boy/man see her as desirable or look at her the way that a wizard looked at a witch.

She never told a soul how she felt. Everyone just assumed that she went out and dated, but she didn't. She would travel alone or stay home and read, garden or what not.

_Why is this bothering her now?_ She wondered.

The highlight of her day is in the mornings, she runs for exercise.

She gets up, puts her running gear on, throws her hair into a pony tail and brushes her teeth. She's out the door in ten minutes.

She runs for approximately five minutes when she passes the 'Y' in the path that presents another entrance onto her main path.

Draco Malfoy is always on time, entering the path right next to her. They never say a word and they never miss a day, just run together in silence enjoying the exercise. They round the large loop and after the hour it takes them to run it he takes his exit with a nod and a quick salute in acknowledgement; she runs the remaining five minutes home and gets ready for the day.

It's strange for them, when only three years ago they were enemies. They had only spoken a few times and most of those times were business. She finds him sharp as a tack and cooperative to her initiatives.

He finds her easy to work with and reasonable, which is not something he would have expected from the know-it-all-swot he knew in school.

He almost tripped and fell the first time he came across her running, but caught himself at the last moment. He decided to keep pace with her for some unknown reason.

It turned out to be …nice. They had been running together for a little under a year now; besides she had great legs and cute bum.

He turns 21 tomorrow. He's worried. He will come of age and it will start. His father has told him what to expect, but still… fear of the unknown.

He would soon know what his fate held.


	2. So It begins

_A Veela Tale: So It Begins_

He woke up with a start. His heart was pounding and he was sweating. He couldn't remember what he was dreaming or even if he was dreaming.

He shook his head and looked out the window; sunlight shone through the large windows. Lolly opened the heavy drapery to let the sun in early this morning.

_She was a tenacious little house elf_. He thought with a smirk.

He had told her time and again that he preferred to sleep in on the weekends and for her to leave the drapery alone, but she persists telling him that sunlight was good for the spirit and after everything he'd been through he needed a positive spirit.

She would stand there looking at him with her little arms crossed huffing daring him to argue.

He never did.

He sighed and ran his hand down his face, then sat up straight.

He could smell breakfast… and other… things. His suite was on the West end of the house the farthest from the kitchen.

He realized with some resignation that it had started. That's why his sense of smell was enhanced, but his father didn't tell him about this sense of …urgency? Like he forgot something important and he had to hurry to find it.

A knock on the door jarred him out of his reverie, "Enter." He told the unknown visitor.

The door opened and standing there in all his glory was the Malfoy Family Patriarch, "How are you feeling, son?" he asked.

Draco looked at his father and caught the scent of …earth? – he cocked his head.

Lucius chuckled, "You smell like salt to me."

Draco raised his eyebrows, how strange... he thought.

"I feel anxious – like I'm in a hurry, but I don't know what I'm looking for or …something." Draco told his father with furrowed brows.

"Have you had the dream yet?" Lucius asked mildly concerned knowing his son needed to find his mate or he would slowly go mad with loneliness.

"No." he replied not sure that he wanted to, he was still young after all, but he didn't want to go crazy and die of a broken heart either, "What if I find her and she doesn't want me?" he asked in a moment of insecurity.

Lucius was struck with a strong protective emotion, his son was still looking for affirmation from him, "She will. The prophecy says that you will be different, Draco, that your mate will be of equal power and strong ancestry. Together you will break the curse placed on the Malfoy men. You will produce many Malfoy heirs who will change the wizarding world as we know it." He said earnestly, "Now take a shower and come eat, your mother and I will wait." With that the tall aristocrat left.

"No pressure there." Draco mumbled and got up to perform the morning's ablutions.

***

The anxiety didn't fade and his senses only got sharper.

His father had gone over everything with him, but Draco was uneasy and wanted to hear the information again so he sought out his father. Lucius was sitting on the patio in the garden reading the paper.

Draco sat and stared at the scene for a moment, "How will I know?" he asked.

Lucius took in a deep breath, he knew this conversation, he had had it with his father when he turned 21 and it began. Abraxas had been impatient but informative, putting Lucius' fears to rest. It was the first time he was able to have a normal conversation with his father without his jealous and petty mother trying to derail their relationship.

"You will sense her, smell her… _feel_ her. It'sdifficult to control yourself at first, you will feel an almost primal need to mark her – own her, but you must fight that initial feeling, Draco. You could hurt her."

"What does mother smell like?" he asked suddenly curious.

Lucius smirked and took in a long breath through his nose, "Roses… the purest of roses." He, of course, could smell her; Veela senses were equal to the heightened awareness of werewolves.

"Did you have this conversation with Grandfather?" Draco asked knowing that Lucius did not particularly care for his father and really disliked his mother.

Lucius raised a brow and a shadow passed over his grey eyes, "I did."

"Did grandmother get in the way?"

Lucius didn't like talking about her, "Why do you ask?" he asked a little harsher than intended.

Draco winced ever so slightly, "If we have mates, was grandmother grandfathers' mate?"

_It's a valid question_ Draco thought and hoped his father understood his need for understanding.

"No. His mate died at a young age; he had only just found her when she was taken from him. As you know we mate for life so after that he was alone. Hyperion, _my_ grandfather, arranged for father to be married to a socialite to keep the lines pure and ensure there were heirs to the family name." Lucius sighed and had a faraway look in his eyes, but he continued for Draco.

"My mother was thrilled to marry into the Malfoy fortune, but once they were married my father, with his father, had to tell her the truth about our Veela blood. She was furious; though, my father indicated he was unsure why she was so angry. Marrying for love was rare among purebloods, so she had no expectation that he would be a doting husband."

He paused, "I always had the feeling that she was jealous of my father's heritage." He said casually of a sudden.

"You mean like she wanted to be a Veela too?" Draco asked a little uncertain.

"Yes. We have power, Draco, if we choose to use it. She never had that."

Draco sighed again and looked out at the garden. He heard his father inhale and then humm… or purr, depending on who you ask.

"Cissa." He sighed and turned expectantly.

Draco could smell something sweet, but not roses, something that smelled like sweet warm milk.

His mother walked through the door way and smiled at her two men, "Good Morning, love." She said and kissed her husband, "and good morning to you also." She said hugging her son.

Draco smiled at her; he loved her more than he loved himself. He couldn't imagine living in a world without her. He also couldn't imagine loving any other woman more than he loved his mother.

"Mum, have you ever been jealous that father is a Veela?"

That question startled her, "No, of course not. There is nothing to be jealous of, really."

"But we have the power to influence." Draco said wiggling his eyebrows making his parents roll their eyes at him.

"I have power too, Draco. Veela's mate for life; he would die without me… literally. He suffered greatly those months in Azkaban. To be parted from your mate is detrimental to your health." She said as lovingly as she could to her son, but then she got an evil glint in her eyes and added, "And if he knows whats good for him he'll keep me happy!"

She yelped as her husband pulled her roughly onto his lap and snogged her silly.

Draco groaned and stood to walk away, but he was stopped by his father's deep and soothing voice, "Son, just relax and let it happen. It'll be ok."

Draco nodded and left the two alone in the garden. He would stay in today, go for a swim in the lake or read in the library. He just wanted to get used to this weird feeling before he went out and tried to deal with the swarming females.

***

She woke up on Sunday when she rolled over and the sun shined in her eyes. She squinted (with her eyes closed) and rolled back over to face the wall, but she was awake now so she got up and walked into her small, but cute bathroom.

She loved her home. She had bought it with the money and land title that came with receiving the Order of Merlin first class. It was lovely.

Hermione had grown out of her 'little girl' look and into her once bushy hair. It was a dark honey color normally and hung down her back in curls, if not a little frizzy when she let it air dry. She really didn't like her hair, but the cost and time it would take to tame it was just too much for her so she usually had it in a braid or a pony tail.

Her eyes were a common brown, though intelligent they weren't remarkable in any way. She had clear skin for the most part, but did get a pimple or two around her period.

A smattering of freckles dotted around her cheeks and over her pert nose – her mother used to call them angel kisses.

She was going to have coffee with Harry and Ron this morning. It was her birthday, and they were treating her.

She felt a little weird today she noticed after she stepped out of her shower – like something was missing. She shrugged it off and apperated to the café.

She arrived down the block from where she wanted to be and scowled a little at her mistake; she felt a little wonky, but it shouldn't interfere with her magic.

She took a deep breath and started walking.

She smiled when she saw the familiar red head and the round glasses sitting at a table deep in conversation, "Gentlemen –How are you this morning?" she asked in mock ceremony.

They turned their heads to her and smiled, but their smiles faltered a little and Harry cocked his head at her.

"What?" she asked sitting down.

"Did you do something with your hair 'Mione?" it was Ron that asked.

She raised an eyebrow, in all the years she's known him and all the crazy things she attempted with her hair, he never once recognized a difference, "Nnnnoooo." She said slowly.

"Are you sure? It's … lighter, almost blonde." This was Harry and he was still looking at her like she had dyed her hair bubblegum pink reminiscent of Tonks.

She looked at them both intensely, trying to discern whether they were having her on, but she decided they were not in the next instance, "You're eyes are …different too." Ron said.

She was getting freaked out now, "Like how different?" she asked

"Lighter… like Remus' when he… DID YOU GET BITTEN????!!!" Harry yelled drawing attention to their table.

"NO! Merlin No. Let's just have some coffee; it's probably just some weird wizard cold that affects hair and eyes." She huffed and ordered her caramel latte.

They fell back into easy conversation, but she could tell they were both a bit worried; they just kept looking at her hair the whole time.

It was frustrating.

After an hour or so she was ready to leave, but stopped suddenly when she smelled 'it'.

The heavenly scent of Sandalwood and Myrrh. It made her head swim.

"MIONE!" Harry yelled.

She opened her eyes and realized she was panting and sweating a bit, "What?" she snapped at him for yelling at her.

"You.. ummm, your … welll you sort of zoned out, started panting and your skin got all…. Sweaty then …ummm well… ahh…"

"Spit it out, Harry."

"Your teeth Mione, they're , well you have fangs." Ron said finally.

She ran her tongue along her teeth and felt the sharp fangs receding now that she was calming down.

She rose suddenly to leave; she had to get out of there.

***

No one noticed that Draco Malfoy was leaning up against the wall at the other side of the café panting. His teeth were long and sharp and his eyes glowed with a silvery mist.

He had smelled it instantly: wisteria.


	3. Cedar

_A Veela Tale: Cedar_

He was leaning against the wall panting; he had one hand resting against his stomach and the other clenched in a fist at his side. He felt like he had just played an entire game of Quidditch in three seconds flat only to have it end with a hit by a bludger to the midsection.

He looked around quickly, but saw no one of importance; he did notice Weasley and Potter and sneered in their direction, but they didn't see him and he was grateful.

He needed to get home.

He pushed off the wall and glanced back at the two; _they looked confused_. Draco thought and then shrugged, _not surprising, Weaselby looked confused for the entire seven years I knew him in school, why stop now?_

His breathing was under control now and his heart had returned to its normal rate, though he could still feel the sharpness of his canines, they were no longer fang-like in length.

***

She ran to the apparition point; she just needed to get somewhere away from here. She turned and with a POP! She was gone.

When she opened her eyes she frowned at the unfamiliar street.

"Stupid Wonky Magic! What in Merlins name is wrong with me?!" she said aloud to herself, causing a passerby to look at her strangely.

She walked a few steps and noticed the run down sign hanging by one corner. She tilted her head so that her eyes weren't reading crooked letters: WELCOME TO SPINNERS END! It read.

"What?" she asked herself.

She shook her head and always the optimist walked to where her fairly recent friendly acquaintance lived. She wouldn't call him a friend yet, but not because she didn't think of him that way. It was because he would respond with a scathing insult and she was afraid it would hurt her feelings.

She knew it was stupid. Most people thought she had thicker skin than the back of a hippogriff, but the truth was that she was _overly_ sensitive. She hid it well, but she had spent a good number of evenings with Moaning Myrtle in the prefects' bathroom crying her eyes out over some stupid remark someone made about her person.

She walked up his sidewalk after reciting an incantation that revealed the home.

The whole neighborhood was run down. The row houses were old and not well cared for, the sidewalks were lined with trashcans and graffiti'd mailboxes. It was a poor muggle neighborhood and she got the willies every time she came.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

He didn't answer right away, but she knew he was home. He was always home, he didn't go out much anymore.

The door lock sounded and she could hear grumbling on the other side.

He opened the door just a crack and peered out; she smiled and he opened the door for her to step through.

"Miss Granger, to what do I owe this… pleasure?" he asked.

His voice was not as smooth and silky as it once had been; after the snake bite on his neck and the months he spent recuperating without being able to speak, his voice took on a gravel-y edge to it, still deep, but a bit menacing.

She thought for a second that it sounded very sexy.

"I don't know why I'm here, exactly. I meant to apperate… away from…" she stopped and sniffed, "Are you building something?"

"Pardon?" he asked looking at her like she was daft.

"Are you building something? I smell…. wood…" she inhaled through her nose, "Cedar." She said confidently.

She furrowed her eye brows and stepped closer to him.

He looked a little panicked, but didn't step away.

She seemed to inhale with her whole body, taking a deep breath that started at her knees bending and her nose level with his chest, slowly coming to an upright position standing straight all the while inhaling, ending with her on tip toes and her nose reaching just above his shoulder.

She was closer now and he was looking down at her with an expression of calculated inquisition.

"Cedar. _You_ smell like cedar." She opened her eyes and stepped back, "it's …comforting." She said grimacing to herself at how cheesy she sounded, even to her own ears.

He relaxed, surprisingly, at her admission, "Thank you. I've spent years making people **un**comfortable, it's nice to know I can have the opposite effect too." He said quietly.

She was floored at his confession, but thought it was nice to see him open up a little.

He straightened suddenly, obviously sensing she that was slipping into sentimental mode and moved to the kitchen.

She sighed and reminded herself, 'baby steps.' Even this new –free Snape wasn't ready for mushy mushy; and she doubted he would ever be, it just wasn't his personality, though stranger things have happened.

He interrupted her thoughts, "Sit. Tell me." Was all he said and she had the overwhelming urge to pour out her soul to this man, but she didn't- to which he was eternally grateful…

"I woke up feeling…weird." She said and sipped her tea, "hey this is good, what kind is it?"

He rolled his eyes at her sudden distraction, "Focus Miss Granger, define weird."

"Like I'm missing something; my magic is off." She frowned again.

He looked at her and took in her whole appearance, "Did you dye your hair?" he asked in his sultry gravel like voice, but his expression was one of trying to connect the dots.

"No – Ron and Harry asked the same, but I need to tell you the whole thing." She said looking at him.

He sat back in his seat and noticed her eyes were lighter, hazel instead of chocolate brown.

He nodded and sipped his tea as she spun her tale of what happened this morning.

***

"…and what exactly were you thinking right before you apperated and landed here?" he asked.

She thought for a moment, "that I wanted to be somewhere safe, where I wouldn't be found." She answered.

He stood and started walking to his sitting room, which was lined floor to ceiling with books. He was muttering to himself, "physical characteristics, fangs, panting, sweating, enhanced sense of smell…"

He picked out a few books and opened them to what seemed like exactly the right page to her; dragging his finger down the page as he read. When he stopped he didn't pick his head up from the page only spoke to her, "Miss Granger How old are you?"

"Today is my 21st birthday." She whispered.

He looked at her then, but then shook his head, "it can't be." he said

"What? What can't be?" she asked

He closed the book, "Miss Granger…"

"Please call me Hermione; Miss Granger sounds so… old and we have too much history." She said

The corners of his lips twitched slightly, but he bowed his head in acquiescence, "Hermione, What do you know of your ancestry?"

"Beyond my parents? Nothing. They never spoke of it and my grandparents died when I was a baby." She said wondering where all this was going.

"I am willing to help you get to the bottom of this, but first you must agree to my conditions." He said secretly hoping she would agree, he needed something purposeful to do and this also sparked his interest.

She didn't exactly ask for his help, only took advantage of where her magic brought her. _Hmmm, it would be nice to find out A) what was happening B) know her family tree and C) get to know him better and let him know he wasn't alone anymore.._.

"Ok. What are the conditions?"

Internally he smiled; externally he remained stoic, "You keep me fully informed of ALL changes and feelings you experience." She nodded, "this requires us to meet at least twice a week if not more."

He wanted to make sure she understood that they would be spending a lot of time together… he was looking forward to having a friend, or at least someone who accepted him after everything.

"…and?" she asked waiting for the bomb to drop.

"…and you help me remodel this rat hole. Miverva might have mentioned that you were particularly talented at decoration charms. I don't want to give this house up, but dislike living in this rather gloomy state." He said

She couldn't believe her ears – Severus Snape wanted to be happy! At least that is what she took from his statement, "Of course! I would love to!" she said a little too cheery, which made Severus cringe.

"Then we have a deal. I will need to visit the muggle office of Vital Statistics and wizarding family records." He said

"Why wizarding family records, I'm muggle born – no witches remember?" she said looking at him.

"Another condition, don't question me." he said and opened the door for her to leave.

"I'll be back Tuesday afternoon around noon. I take Tuesday afternoons off." She informed him.

"See you then. Good bye Miss Granger." He shut the door.

***

He made it home and walked through the door, "FATHER!" he yelled

Lucius walked out of the study and met his haggard looking son, "What happened?" he asked.

"I – I don't know exactly." Draco was led to the study and handed a firewhiskey.

They drank together while Draco relayed the occurrence.

"Did you see her?" Lucius asked

"No, I didn't see anyone except Potter and the other one."

"Miss Granger?" Lucius asked slowly.

"No Weasley." Lucius let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

***

That night Draco had a fitful rest, his dreams kept replaying the same image over and over again.

_He was standing in the garden at Malfoy Manor, he turned as a little girl squealed daddy and ran into his arms. She had platinum lockes and a freckles. He picked up his giggling daughter and placed her on his hip waiting for her mother. _

_When he looked up he watched a small woman with blonde hair like his and amber eyes, smile and walk towards him._

_'Draco…' she whispered as he gathered her in for a kiss._

_'I missed you' he told the woman, 'what did the healer say?'_

_'I'm pregnant' she says and smiles the most radiant smile._

He woke up.

The image is burned into his brain – her walking through the glass doors and onto the patio. He thought she looked vaguely familiar, but then lay back down and returned to sleep.


	4. logged In

_A Veela Tale: Logged On_

It's Monday morning and Harry's opening up his shop; the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky, but he's worried. Hermione was not only acting strange, she was looking different.

Not that there was anything wrong with different – _he_ had been 'different' since he was 11 – no this was different different.

He decided he would give her a little more time to obtain an explanation, if none was forthcoming, he would organize an intervention; he would call in the big dogs… literally. Sirius and Remus; those two would _make_ her talk.

She had done more for them than anyone else in their entire lives. She single handedly brought Sirius back from the veil. She did it for him and Remus- they had been so sad after Sirius was gone that she had reached out to the only person who could help her with the dark magic involved in bringing him back and that was Snape.

The summer after Voldemort fell (he referred to it that way, 'fell', because he didn't do it alone; they had all worked together to defeat the crazy wizard) Hermione helped the healers to nurse Snape back from the brink of death and then hit him up for a favor.

Harry smirked in memory at hearing Hermione tell the story of how Snape, true-to-form, made some biting comment about her being a know-it-all swot always seeking knowledge.

He had laughed and laughed, Ron couldn't even stand he was laughing so hard.

Harry frowned, he couldn't remember if Hermione was laughing too, only that she wore a strange smile and waited for them to stop long enough for her to continue.

Turns out he allowed her access to his library where she found one particular very old spell requiring a potion that Snape helped her brew and an incantation she memorized along with some complicated wand motions.

Hermione never did share the particulars of the ritual, only that she practiced for days and it was very taxing on her.

Snape didn't say a word about it.

He remembered that Ron had made some disparaging remark to Sirius the night after he returned that Hermione probably had to sacrifice a small animal for the spell.

The only ones laughing at Ron's remark were Ron himself and Harry; Sirius, Remus and Snape never cracked a smile and Hermione was strangely absent that night.

He was, of course, oblivious to this at the time; he was just thrilled that his Godfather was back. He remembered that Remus changed the subject to his job at the Ministry in Hermione's division.

Harry frowned again. There were a lot of things he missed when it came to his best friends, but he also caught many things too. For instance, he noticed with some concern that Hermione never gave the wizards practically throwing themselves at her daily a second glance; in fact she was completely clueless. She just never noticed.

In fact Ron, Harry, Ginny, Mills and George had gotten Hermione drunk one evening to loosen her up and get her away from work; she ended up sitting out on the balcony by herself at the end of the night while the others laughed and joked inside.

When he found her she had confessed to him that she was afraid she would never find anyone who would love her, that no one would find her pretty or want her 'that way'.

He was struck dumb. She was always so confident in her manner.

He had also wanted to laugh, but thought better of it.

Admittedly, her hair could use some work, but she was so pretty, really smart, funny, loyal and she had a killer body; what was there not to love?

He had just hugged her until she passed out and then apperated her home.

Ron had asked, as he returned, why he took 'Mione home.

He told the red head that she was just too drunk to have any more fun.

Ron nodded his head and said, "Yeah, she always was kind of a buzz kill." Then took another drink of the bottle he was nursing.

Harry shook his head; he was way too drunk to try and explain the deep emotions their best friend harbored to Ron, who really did have the emotional range of a teaspoon.

***

Her day was already not going well, she didn't see Draco this morning for 'their' run and she had a splitting headache.

Hermione walked through the ministry to her office to find Remus waiting for her his nose stuck in a magazine.

She hadn't even said hello when he stood suddenly and rushed towards her, "Hermione…" he said looking at her strangely.

She held her hands up, "I know Remus, I know. No, I didn't dye my hair, no I didn't cast a glamour charm over my eyes and No I didn't go to the salon." She said a little annoyed.

Remus backed away and looked at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked

"It's your scent. It's… different." He said uncertain.

She then noticed the aroma surrounding him; she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. When she looked at him again she said, "You smell like chocolate cheesecake; my favorite comfort food. Did you have some for breakfast?" she asked the startled werewolf.

He looked into her eyes and jumped back like he was electrocuted, "Were you bitten, Mi??? Were you?" he said stepping forward grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her a little.

"NO! Why does everyone keep asking me that for Merlins sake?!" she hissed breaking away from him and marching into her office.

He followed, "heightened awareness, change in eye color…. Hello?" he said sarcastically.

She sank to her seat, "I don't know what's wrong – my magic is off, I feel weird and I have a massive headache that feels distinctly like a hangover, how is Sirius this morning?"

Remus laughed at her question, "He has a hangover. I'm sure he'll be sufficiently humbled when he hears that he shared that it was strong enough to reach you."

The ritual in bringing back Sirius was lengthy and difficult and dark.

Severus had warned her that she could suffer too.

She didn't care; she just knew that Harry and Remus needed Sirius and it was within her power to help.

Severus had rolled his eyes and continued helping her.

****Flashback****

On the scheduled night of the ritual, Severus and Hermione had every ingredient required with the exception of the virgins blood sacrifice.

Severus was pacing, "I don't know where we're going to find a virgin just waiting to sacrifice her blood for a dark ritual that will bond them to and bring back the world's largest git." He said throwing his hands up in frustration.

She just looked at him, "I do." She whispered.

"Oh really, you just happen to have a harem of 72 virgins waiting to do your bidding then?"

"No, just one." She said quietly not meeting his eyes.

He stopped pacing, "You?" he said dropping his head back in a silent plea that he heard her incorrectly.

"Me." She said.

"You will be bonded, Miss Granger. It won't be like marriage bonds or love bonds, but you will share…emotions, some experiences. Hopefully, it will fade over time, but in the near term, you will be …a mess." He said preferring to lay it all out in plain sight.

She nodded.

He kept going hoping against hope to dissuade her, "it will takes weeks for you to recover and I won't be there to nurse you back to health!" he added for good measure; it was a lie, of course, she was the most selfless person he had ever known, of course he would do anything to help her recover even if her deed helped the bane of his existence, also known as the mutt.

She nodded again and he could tell she was trying really hard not to cry.

"Ok then let's get started, it will take at least an hour to break into the Dept of Mysteries." He said resigned.

She let out the breath she was holding, but didn't move.

"Miss Granger, we need to start." He said hoping she was having second thoughts.

They were dashed in the next second when she spoke, "I have to do this alone. If you get caught, they won't give you a second chance, Professor."

He opened his mouth to object quite adamantly, but she shook her head and jutted her chin out stubbornly, "No." she said.

He was defeated, he knew – by this little chit- he nodded, "What can I do?" he asked.

"The potion and a run through of the incantation."

They practiced for an hour while the potion brewed and when it was ready, she bottled it. She left with a determination he had seen many times from her.

She arrived with little hassle, Confunded the night guard, and walked right in.

She set her tools in a neat row; she had to remember the blood had to be cut from two spots at the precise moment.

She took a deep breath and began.

When it was time she took the knife and made a deep slash on her inner thigh allowing it to bleed into a silver chalice.

More wand movements, more chanting, more calling – another cut; this time above her heart, the blood flowed freely while she called to him.

"Sirius Orion Black, come forth, hear my call. Sirius Orion Black, reach out, hear my call. Sirius Orion Black Hear my call, come forth, it's time."

She was getting dizzy when she felt an overwhelming pressure, searing pain and then darkness.

She awoke to Sirius, Remus and Severus all staring at her with unreadable expressions. Once they saw she was awake they started in on her, "I cannot believe you did this!" Sirius yelled, but with worry not anger… well some anger.

"Stupid stupid stupid" Remus sang shaking his head.

"I tried to tell her." Severus added.

She wanted to cry, she had hoped that they would be happy. She didn't cry though, instead swallowed the fear of rejection and failure and just looked at all of them waiting for them to stop, "How do you feel?" she asked Sirius.

He looked at her for a moment and then asked, "How do _you_ feel?"

She smirked, "I asked you first."

They all snickered at her cheek.

"I feel good, kitten. Real good." He said with appreciation lacing his tone – his eyes were watery too, but he would never admit that.

She looked at Remus, who looked like he hadn't slept in days, "Did you tell Harry?" she asked.

"He arrived just minutes after Sirius and you apperated in, he was here when Sirius came running down the stairs to get me."

She smiled, "good." And fell back to sleep.  
It took her three weeks to get back to normal, all the while sorting through which emotions were hers and which were his. She felt almost every emotion Sirius experienced early on – so much so that she started teasing him about jumping back in the game and shagging everything in sight, she couldn't feel the actual act, but felt the emotions: excitement, sweet pleasure, then calm and sleepy.

She asked him one night in front of Remus, Harry and Ron if he wouldn't mind making the sweet pleasure part last a little longer and not get to the calm and sleepy part until later.

They all laughed at his embarrassed expression.

****end flashback****

She only felt whispers of his emotions now, unless they were very strong and this hangover was a monster.

She took another breath of chocolate cheesecake and told him she needed to get to work – there were 12 house elves who refused to be relocated near the Lochness and she needed to contact Malfoy.

Remus just smiled and walked to his office down the hall from hers.

She decided to send an owl for a formal request for assistance then she would call him later.

Most everyone in the ministry had a cell phone now and all the division heads were issued one by the Ministry, so Draco was in her address book.

_Mr. Malfoy,_

_I am in need of your assistance once again. Are you available to meet today?_

_Regards,_

_Hermione Granger_

Short and sweet she thought and sent the owl.

A few minutes later her phone started vibrating with a text message.

**DAMalfoy: Not N 2day. Google Chat**. It read; then she laughed, Google chat???

**HJGranger: K **she responded and logged on.

She found who she thought was him and tested the waters.

**EarthlyMessenger: Malfoy?**

**Draconis: Yes. Granger?**

**EarthlyMessenger: Yes. This is …weird, I'm almost proud.**

**Draconis: haha. What did you need?**

**EarthlyMessenger: House elves refusing to relocate in Scotland; need your signature on some paperwork. Are you sick?**

**Draconis: Can it wait til tomorrow? Why? Are you worried?**

**EarthlyMessenger: Yes. No, I just didn't realize that purebloods got sick like the rest of us plebeians.**

**Draconis: You'll be happy to know, I'm not sick, just not feeling …myself.**

**EarthlyMessenger: Not yourself? You're right, you're being awfully congenial, maybe it's Google…**

**Draconis: I don't have to sit here and get abused by you, I'm signing off.**

**EarthlyMessenger: Fine.**

**Draconis: Fine.**

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

**EarthlyMessenger: I thought you were signing off.**

**Draconis: If you need my signature, bring it by Malfoy Manor at 2pm and I'll sign.**

**Draconis logged off.**

_Hmmm, what a strange conversation_. She prepared the paperwork and realized with a start that her mood had improved exponentially. She looked at her watch – it was only 10 am, she had four more hours to go…


	5. The prophecy

_A Veela Tale: The Prophecy_

Severus was never really comfortable around large groups of people; in fact he was rarely comfortable around people at all. Right now, however, he was bordering on edgy leaning towards mania.

He felt like said people were staring at him and he didn't like it; he had had enough of being the center of attention during the dark lords' reign he didn't need muggles gawking at him too.

It didn't help that most wizards/witches were slightly intimidating in their stature to the muggle world. Their magical presence enhanced their physical being making them seem larger/taller/ more intense than in actuality.

Severus was a powerful wizard pushing 6'6" tall with jet black hair that hung to his shoulders and ink blue eyes that seemed to look into one's soul. It made for an imposing first impression to a bunch of muggles standing in line at the Vital Statistics office waiting for their turn.

This was giving Severus a headache; after years of spying and a general proclivity towards situational awareness he made a mental list of those around him and their activities; the lady four steps back and to the left sitting on the edge of her chair shuffling through her purse muttering obscenities about her son taking her credit card without asking, the short round man behind him who was humming to himself interrupted by a hiccup followed by a burp and then continued humming – he smelled of old liquor and cheap perfume and his shirt was buttoned unevenly, the young couple to the right of him waiting to get their marriage license and hoping their parents will understand their impulse, the teen ager standing by the door watching the crowds looking mentally absent – Severus sneered at this last. _Dunderhead_. He thought.

"Next!" the lady at the counter yelled.

Severus stepped up, "How can I help you sir?" she asked him, but didn't look up.

"I'm looking for ancestral records, maternal, given and maiden names: Jane Peters and Genoa Sharpe. I also need Genoa Sharpe's mothers' name." Severus finished waiting for the woman to get to work.

She just looked at him.

"Is there something wrong, madam?" he asked trying not to throttle the woman.

She seemed to snap out of her trance and started typing furiously on her computer, she paused and typed again, she looked up at him and smiled, "Amelia Waite was Genoa's mother. I can print this out or email it to you after payment." She said still smiling at him.

It was creeping him out.

"Print it out please." He said as he placed the proper amount of Euro on the counter without touching the lady.

She took the money and looked at him again, "I get off at 5, we could have a drink …or something." She said batting her mascara clumped eyelashes.

She had lipstick on her teeth, Severus noticed and her hair had only moved as a unit making it seem as if she were wearing an invisible helmet preventing a natural flow through her poorly dyed tresses.

"ahh no, thank you." He replied wanting to get the hell out of there.

She winked at him and lowered her voice, "I understand too many people around. Well I'll be at the Five Corners Bar at 5:30." She said this while running one long fake fingernail over the top of his hand.

He shuttered, took the print out and almost ran out of there. His heart was racing and he had to fight the urge to return home and take a shower, but he had one more stop to make: Wizarding Family Records.

He was much more at ease around wizarding society, but he once again found himself standing in line, which he disliked immensely and judging by the sour looks of the magical people around him, so did everyone else, though no one was staring this time.

"Next." The witch at the counter called.

"I'm checking family records, maternal, given and maiden names: Amelia Waite, Genoa Sharpe, Jane Peters and Hermione Granger."

The witch was nodding as he listed the names and waving her wand, but paused at the last name, "Is Miss Granger aware of your…interest in her family?" she asked suspiciously.

Severus wanted to roll his eyes, but one did not start barking up a war heroine's tree without being questioned at least once, "Yes, she is aware."

The witch thought for a moment, "I will take your word Mr. Snape, but if I find that she is not aware and that you lied to me, I will personally make sure you find yourself front and center in the Ministers office explaining yourself." She scolded.

Severus did not like being scolded, but nodded none the less.

She waved her wand and the parchment was populated with information. She handed it to Severus and he walked away. He could hear her call for the next victim, "Next!"

He apperated home to look over the two pieces of information.

***

He was staring at the information and had been for an hour and a half. He couldn't believe it. He needed access to the Malfoy Library. He pulled out a blank parchment and wrote his long time friend a letter.

"Raucus!" Severus called, "Take this to Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy and wait for a response." He gave the bird a treat and waved it away.

His gaze returned to the parchment and paper; he couldn't believe it… and all the time Albus had known. _DAMN THAT MAN AND HIS SECRETS!_ Severus thought viciously.

Raucus arrived with a response.

_Severus,_

_Are you available now? I'll open the floo._

_Look forward to seeing you old friend._

_Lucius._

Severus gathered his notes and parchment, cast a charm to keep the soot off and floo'd to Malfoy Manor. He stepped out gracefully into the library where Lucius was waiting for him with a snifter of brandy.

They clasped hands and sat.

"So, what brings you to my humble abode, Severus?"

"Ancestral research." Severus answered.

"Yours?"

"No. I would like to look through some of your books before I reveal my secrets, Lucius. I need a few hours, but you will need to hear what I have to say in the end."

Lucius nodded slowly, "Call me if there is anything I can do to assist you, Severus."

"Lucius, Draco will need to hear also." Severus added.

Lucius left and Severus got to work, it was 11am.

***

At 1:30 two owls arrived at Malfoy Manor. One for Draco and one for Lucius – both letters conveyed the same message.

_Mr. Malfoy,_

_The Veela Clans will be holding an emergency meeting and request the presence of a representative from International Magical Law and other Ministry divisions. _

_Arrangements have been made for your stay, arriving tomorrow morning._

_We anticipate a resolution to this obstacle to come reasonably soon once we convene. _

_Respectfully,_

_Mabon Taunts_

"Father, did you get an owl from the Veela clans?" Draco asked coming down the stairs and entering the study.

Lucius looked up, "Yes." Lucius chaired the International Confederation of Wizards as well as represented the House of Malfoy in the Veela charters.

"I wonder if Granger got one too." Draco said quietly to himself

Severus looked up, "What did you say about Miss Granger?" He didn't mean it to come out sharp, but it did.

Draco winced, "I was just wondering if she got a request too, she runs the division for Regulation and Control of Magical Beings; Veela's fall under her purview." Draco said.

Severus didn't say anything opting instead to continue reading and jot down notes.

Since his father and Godfather were in the study, Draco decided to stay and pulled out his laptop to see if Granger was logged on.

BEEP BEEP was the sound his computer made when he powered up. Lucius and Severus looked up him and then at each other shaking their heads – there were no less computer savvy people on earth.

Severus lowered his head and continued to scribble quill to parchment.

Draco logged on and noticed that she was also. A sudden calming feeling swept over him as he smiled a bit at her user ID – earthlymessenger- the meaning of Hermione and fitting to her personality.

**Draconis: Granger.**

**EarthlyMessenger: Malfoy.**

**Draconis: Did you get a Veela request for an emergency meeting?**

**EarthlyMessenger: Yes. Strange, right? I contacted Kings to find out why, since my letter didn't say. He couldn't tell me exactly what the issue was, but says they are on the brink of war.**

**Draconis: Are you still coming at 2pm? We can talk then.**

**EarthlyMessenger: Yes, I'll bring Kings owl so you can read it. Umm Draco?**

X**  
Draconis: Draco? Uh oh. What?**

**EarthlyMessenger: How will I get in? Malfoy Manor doesn't allow…**

**Draconis: I had father alter the wards, you should be able to walk right up to the door.**

**EarthlyMessenger: thanks. See you in a bit.**

**EarthlyMessenger: logged off. Draconis: logged off**

Draco closed the laptop and returned his attention to the fire; his father broke him out of his reverie, "What were you doing? Typing like a madman." He asked genuinely curious.

"Chatting with Granger; she got an invite too and even owled Kingsley to find out what it was about. She said he told her that the clans were on the verge of battle over something, and that she would bring his response over when she comes today." He said conversationally.

Severus blinked and Lucius stopped moving.

"You learned all that from typing?" Severus asked, "How long does it take for her to respond?"

"It's instant. I type a question, hit enter and she sees it. She types a response, hits enter and I see it."

***

At five minutes until 2 Hermione apperated to Malfoy Manor. It was a little unnerving considering that last time she was here was three short years ago and she was being tortured, but that is neither here nor there – they were all working together now.

She shook herself mentally, _don't be cheesy_.

_Right. No cheese_.

She walked up to the door and was about to knock when it opened.

Lucius Malfoy stood there looking at her with something less than a smile and something more than a frown, it was unreadable, but not malicious.

"Miss Granger, I…" he stopped abruptly and his expression changed from unreadable to mild surprise, which to him probably seemed like screaming shock.

She smiled her best water-under-the-bridge smile and said, "I have some paperwork for the younger Mr. Malfoy (that didn't sound right to her ears, but she wasn't completely on a first name basis with his son) and we were going to converse about the Veela meeting." She finished.

He was still looking at her like she was sprouting another head right in front of him.

She was feeling a little pressure and it she couldn't seem to catch her breath, but she chalked that up to anxiety.

She nodded her understanding, "I realize I look a little different, I didn't dye my hair, I didn't glamour my eyes, I didn't go to a salon and I didn't get bit by a werewolf. I don't know what is going on, but Severus is working on it for …" it was her turn to stop suddenly.

The pressure was getting worse by the second and a loud rushing sound in her ears was keeping her from hearing anything. It was getting hard to stand, her heart was pounding.

She leaned against the wall with a flop grasping her chest and panting.

She could feel her long fangs growing and felt a embarrassed, "Oh I'm…s – so sorry Mr. … Mr. Malfoy" she could barely breathe and was on the verge of passing out when she felt strong arms surround her pick her up and take her to the sunroom, opening the windows, she blacked out after that.

He made sure she was breathing and wasn't overheating before he walked back into the study to see Severus bent over his son wiping his brow.

Severus looked up, "he just started panting, grabbed his chest and passed out. He whispered something about Wisteria and that was it."

Lucius decided not to mince words, "Miss Granger is a Veela." He said almost accusingly.

Severus stood and took a deep breath, "it seems so. We'll need to wake them so I can explain."

"THEY'RE MATES! They won't be able to breathe while in the same room together until they've consummated and he's marked her… and well she him too since she's a Veela also!"

"There is a charm that will allow a …separation, if you will. It will hold for a couple hours, but after that we'll need to pull them away from each other." Severus said.

"It won't work; all three of us are going to the Veela meeting." Lucius said with an edge to his voice.

"Are you concerned that she will dirty your blood lines?" Severus asked quietly, but with menace.

Lucius was almost offended, but then decided against it, this was Severus he was talking to, he sighed and looked at his friend in the eyes, "No. She is powerful and has Veela blood – no doubting that now, have you seen her? Plus, she is smart and from everything I've heard probably a good match for Draco, she won't be a doormat."

Severus laughed thinking about how stubborn she is, "no, not a doormat, but you should know a few things Lucius. She is kind to a fault. She is the most unselfish person I have ever met. She saved me without knowing …anything. Told me she couldn't let anyone die if she could help it. She saved Sirius Black by performing The Calling ritual… by herself." Severus added for effect.

Lucius was astounded. It was very dark magic outlawed ages ago, "Is she in love with him?" he asked thinking that was the only reason she would do something like that.

"No. She did it for Potter and Lupin."

Lucius was beginning to get an idea about her when Severus interrupted again, "Remember I told you someone from the Order defended you and that is why you didn't get sent to Azkaban again?"

Lucius nodded feeling something claw at his heart.

"It was Hermione. She stood up – against her friends and the rest of the Order and told the Wizengamot that you pushed her out of the way saving her from Fenrir Greyback and that without you saving her life she wouldn't have been able to save Weasely, help Potter and find Kingsley Shacklebolt. As far as she was concerned they all owed you their life."

Lucius swallowed, "Why didn't you tell me all of this?"

"She asked me not to. Now let's cast the spell on them both and enervate."

Draco woke up groggy, but feeling better, his heart wasn't racing and he could breathe normally.

He turned towards the entry when he heard a sound.

***

Her hair was a golden blonde her skin paler with a small smattering of freckles covering her nose. She was quite pretty, angelic even- if her sharp fangs hadn't been visible. As they receded he cast the spell and said "Enervate."

She opened her eyes and sat up.

Severus and Lucius were both quite taken with the bright Amber of her eyes, "what happened?" she said sleepily.

She reached up and pulled her hair out of its containment giving it a good shake with her hand – she did this at home- her hair fell around her shoulders and down her back in silky waves, no longer was it frizzy or curly.

"Miss Granger?"

She straightened up and focused, she wasn't in her home, and she was …_ohsweetmerlin!_

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm soo sorry, please forgive my rudeness, I don't know what happened…I"

"Hermione." Severus called hoping she would just shut up.

"I would never be this rude if I had any control…"

"Hermione." Severus called again, she was babbling.

"Please forgive me sir, I will just…"

"MISS GRANGER!" both Severus and Lucius yelled.

She stopped and frowned at them, "there is no need to yell." She huffed.

"Hermione, there are some things you should know that concern the Malfoys. Will you listen?" Severus asked

"Yes."

"Then come with me." The tall men led her out of the sunroom and into the study.

They entered the study slowly. She felt a little pressure, but otherwise she was fine, though she could smell the heavenly scent of Sandalwook and Myrrh.

Draco turned around and saw his father and godfather followed by a small blonde woman that looked a lot like Hermione Granger.

His mind went a little fuzzy, he smelled Wisteria and then his body acted of its own accord.

She stopped and looked at him, her mind clouded slightly and all she could see were his silver eyes and smell the sandalwood.

She walked closer and they stopped in front of each other. She was considerably smaller than he was - topped the charts at 6'3", she didn't reach his shoulder.

Severus and Lucius just watched in silence, mesmerized by the energy surrounding the two.

Draco's hand reached to pull her closer, his eyes darting around her face and stopping at her lips.

She reached up, wrapping an arm around his neck and pulled him down slowly.

His grip tightened around her tiny waist, pulling her body up so she was standing on her tip toes.

Her other hand was grasping his bicep and his other hand was positioned at the nape of her neck with a fist full of her hair.

Their eyes closed and breath warm, their lips met softly at first, his tongue running the length of her bottom lip requesting entrance.

She complied and he deepened the kiss.

Lucius turned to Severus, "I thought you said the spell would keep them apart."

"It was supposed to, although it did dampen the desire, there is nothing violent about this first meeting." Severus answered quietly still enthralled with how the couple practically glowed.

Lucius and Severus watched as Hermione's hair turned the same platinum blonde as Draco's, it was quite a sight to behold.

Just then Draco reached down and pulled her thigh high on his hip and circled his pelvis; that was when Lucius and Severus decided it was time to stop it.

"ah ah ah – that's enough for now." He said pulling Draco from her grasp gently so as not to anger either one, female Veela turned into Harpies when angered and he didn't want to do that, "sit down, let's talk."

Draco didn't let go of Hermione he pulled her along and sat on the couch. She held a firm grip on his hand and climbed into his lap when they sat. He immediately buried his face in her neck and she sighed.

SNAP! SNAP!

Severus snapped his fingers to get their attention, "I need you both to focus."

That seemed to clear their fuzzy brains a little; they both looked at him waiting.

Lucius wanted to laugh, because now the purring was so loud Severus made a face at the noise.

Lucius took a breath, "Wait a moment Cissa is coming shortly."

Narcissa walked in and smiled at Severus then looked around, "What is that noise?" She asked walking towards her husband.

She stopped short when she saw her son with a girl on his lap, "oh."

Then the realization **she** was his mate, "Oh."

And then the recognition of said mate, "OH!"

She looked to her husband first to confirm that the slip of a girl purring in Draco's lap was indeed Hermione Granger and then just in case her husband was daft, she looked to Severus. Both men nodded in confirmation.

After a moment's pause, she chuckled a little at the irony – she always admired the witches intellect and skill with a wand, but never thought the muggle born would be her daughter in law- she sat down and turned to face the purring duo.

She was startled to find that Hermione was watching her closely and that Draco was watching Hermione closely.

Narcissa smiled and inwardly cringed at the intensity of the young girls gaze, but then good breeding warranted an introduction.

Narcissa stood and walked two steps before being pulled back to sit on her husband's lap.

She turned to look at him incredulously, "Look at her Narcissa." Lucius said and nodded in Hermione's direction.

Hermione had stood in front of Draco and was very tense and she looked to be ready to pounce, but Draco pulled her back onto his lap and was nuzzling her neck. He was whispering something to her, but they couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it was calming Hermione.

***

Hermione was still present, but she wasn't able to control the feelings. Draco's mother came in and Hermione's mind knew it was Narcissa Malfoy, but her heart was telling her to prepare for battle and protect her mate.

Draco pulled her close and told her it was his mother, he loved his mother, but he loved her more. He told her how he was made for her and nothing would keep them apart ever.

She felt better and curled into him wanting to be as close to him as possible, she felt his warm breath on her neck she sighed.

She opened her eyes after a minute, Severus said to focus.

***

Draco felt fuzzy, but he could think; just not prevent himself from reacting – weird. What he did know was that Hermione was his and no one else's. He felt warm and complete and a very strong urge to mate with her, but something was keeping him from mounting and marking her now. He could smell her, she wanted it too.

Focus. Focus.

***

Lucius could smell them both, it was intoxicating – he couldn't wait to take Cissa, but he needed to focus, so he just lowered his head and smelled her hair, it calmed him, but only slightly.

Severus swirled the amber liquid in the glass uncertain if he wanted to tell all or keep it to himself. He looked at his friend and decided to share the information; if anyone could assist it would be Lucius Malfoy.

"What do you know about your family history Lucius? I mean really know?"

This put Lucius on edge, he was an educated man and was well versed in Malfoy family history, but Severus was implying there was something important left out of the details.

"More specifically, about the curse and the Veela prophecy?"

"Veela prophecy?" Lucius asked putting the snifter on the table.

"Yes, the one that tells of the reuniting of the four clans by a prince and princess of the same line." Severus elaborated

"Oh that one." Lucius said.

"Yes **that** one." Severus replied sarcastically.


	6. The Malfoy Line

_A Veela Tale: The Malfoy Line_

Severus stood and was about to launch into the facts, connections and destiny as he saw them, but Hermione interrupted his train of thought so suddenly it startled him.

"Why aren't you affected, Professor? All this is new to me, but I remember when Fleur came to Hogwarts and every male around me, student and teacher, was affected by her presence. So why aren't you affected by me?" She asked him with no smile, in all seriousness, ending with a tilt of her head that resembled an animal more than it did a human.

Her Amber eyes were piercing and bright with intelligence, but there was something else, something …dangerous about them now.

He could feel the tension in the room escalate and was, for the first time in his life, at a loss of what to do and why this was so important.

He shot a look to Draco; his Godson was tense and his eyes were silvery vapor, his fangs were present and the purring had ended.

Draco was now moving slowly, lifting Hermione off his lap to sit her next to him, almost behind him; he never stopped touching her.

An errant thought entered Severus' mind at how graceful Draco's movement seemed.

"Draco!" Lucius barked and sat Narcissa in the seat he had vacated to stand between Severus and his son.

If Severus had not already been witness to a Veela coming of age with Lucius 20 plus years ago, he would have been afraid. Draco looked frightening and determined.

Draco stopped to look at his father.

Lucius made a guttural sound that spoke of authority and places in the pecking order; needless to say the younger Veela settled immediately.

Severus returned his gaze to Hermione and proceeded to answer her question, "I created a potion that suppresses my olfactory glands and inhibits the cerebral stimulation that provokes the medial insula, which is associated with 'gut feelings' and part of the anterior cinguate that respond to euphoric inspiration." He finished.

"When did you brew it?" she asked.

"Yesterday." He answered.

She nodded and scooted closer to her mate. She gasped when he picked her back up, placed her on his lap and once again buried his face in her neck this time kissing her softly.

He sat her sideways so that her hip was touching his stomach and both of her legs were together over his.

He wrapped one arm around her back and waist. She wrapped her arm around his neck and the other fell flat on his chest.

He was taking deep breathes; her fangs were growing and her eyes were closing.

His free hand was sliding up the outside of her thigh and she started to purr …loudly.

Everyone in the room could feel the energy the two emitted.

Narcissa started fanning herself and squirming while Lucius had to fight not to spread his wife's legs and immerse himself in her depths.

Severus had never wanted a wife to bed more than he did right now.

Once Draco's hand reached Hermione's hip and squeezed she hissed and brought her lips to his in a passionate and intense kiss.

When she moved to straddle him uncaring of their audience, Lucius and Severus stepped in to stop the display, but paused in thought at the best way to do this.

They didn't dare touch Hermione for fear of what Draco would do and they were hesitant to try to move Draco. He was underneath her for all intents and purposes, even if he was still seated, so moving him would be difficult.

After a quick mind meld between Lucius and Severus they decided that Lucius, posing no threat to either of them, would take Hermione while Severus cast the spell again on Draco and then on Hermione.

That was the plan.

Before it was executed Narcissa decided she was going to leave. All she could think about was feeling that stretch that Lucius provided. It was disturbing her also, that it was her son and his mate that provoked these sexual thoughts.

She cleared her throat and caught her husband's arm, "I will take my leave now, my love. Come find me when you are available." She said knowing that Lucius was aware of her current state.

He nodded with heat in his eyes and returned focus to his son and Hermione.

They waited until they no longer heard the clicking of her heeled shoes and set to the task of separating the two Veelas.

By this time, Hermione was indeed straddling her mate, her hands in his hair, her skirt riding high on her pale bare thighs and his hands resting firmly on her bum moving her forward and back in a subtle grinding motion attempting to ease the desperate need to _feel_ her; their eyes unmoving as they gazed at each other.

Lucius acted quickly grabbing her around her waist while Severus pulled his wand casting, first the Petrificus Totalus on Draco before he could react.

Hermione screamed in rage as Lucius took two quick steps back holding her tightly and paying close attention to Severus' wand movements.

He was not aware exactly when the tides turned and Hermione stopped struggling to get back to the arms of her mate, it was a delayed reaction that registered in his mind only when he shifted his gaze and met her now soul less black eyes level with his grey ones.

"Severus." He said hoping the man would finish soon.

"Severus." He hissed a second later with the distressed tone of a man about to meet his maker.

She took his shoulders in her small hands digging her claws- literally- into the dense muscle of the tall wizard and growled.

It was not in a measure of threat that she did this, it was so he couldn't get away.

Lucius howled in both anger and pain, but held fast.

Severus finished with Draco and turned to 'harpy Hermione' casting the same immobulus spell on her that he cast on Draco moments before.

Lucius breathed a sigh of relief and scowled at Severus' chuckle.

After a moment of the snarky potions master continuing his mirth at the expense of Lucius he cast the separation spell and released them both from the immobulus.

"Miss Granger!" Severus snapped in his snarkiest professor voice, "If you're quite finished assaulting your mates father, we can continue."

Her finger nails and fangs receded and her eyes returned to a bright Amber color.

She gently pushed away from Lucius and he set her down to sit next to Draco, "yes professor." She said hastily blinking her eyes as if to clear her head.

She turned back to Lucius and waved her hand healing the wounds she had inflicted.

Lucius was more surprised than Severus as Severus had known for quite some time of Hermione's talents using wandless nonverbal magic.

Draco pulled her close, but did not sit her on his lap. They both looked to Severus for the long awaited information he would share.

Lucius plopped into the chair nearest him, called for another Brandy, for both Severus and him then nodded for Severus to get on with it.

After a much needed gulp of the warm smooth liquid Severus began.

"Hermione, you are not completely muggle born." He let that sink in, "you come from generations of witches – Veelas, but the last actively magical being in your ancestry was your great, great, great grandmother Amalthea Waite nee Malfoy."

It took exactly three seconds for all three Veelas in the room to connect the dots, "WHAT!" they shouted together.

Severus held up a hand to stay their ire and spoke, "I'll explain." He said authoritatively.

"Generations ago the Malfoys were the heads of one of the four ruling Veela clans in the wizarding world; Pax and Branwen Malfoy nee Waite married, uniting two of the powerful clans. Pax and Branwen had three children: Alexandros, Amalthea and Alecto."

"Alexandros?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, your great grandfather." Severus confirmed and forged ahead, "Amalthea and Alexandros were very close and unusually intelligent. Alecto, the youngest did not get along with his older siblings and was considered slow minded when compared to them. Pax and Branwen, taking pride in their older children favored them above Alecto, which resulted in a rift – if you will- in the relationship between the three siblings.

When actions were taken to ensure the dowry for Amalthea and the wedding for Alexandros was nothing less than magnificent there was little gold left for Alecto.

He was petitioned by his parents to stay at home to take care of the aging Veelas – though, they were young yet, they knew once age caught up, they would need care.

This meant that Alecto would be a prisoner to his parents never to find his mate and live out his life as a caregiver. He was extremely bitter and cursed his brother and sister.

Alexandros' blood line would only be allowed one child, a son to carry on the name, but no other.

Amalthea's curse was harsher; her line would be allowed only one female child per generation and on top of that not be allowed to share her strengths and gifts condemning them to bear squibs until such a time when the fates decided to end the curse. Alecto seemed to be really angry with her for some reason." Severus added, silently wondering what the woman did to piss him off to that length.

"Alecto died at a rather young age. It was noted that he died of a broken heart, never being allowed to find his mate, but other written documents imply he took his own life.

Whatever the case, before he died he called upon Aphrodite herself, the Goddess of love.

He asked that she grant him his dying wish; that when two Veelas, unknowingly of the same line unite, the clans recognize them as sovereigns bringing the warring powers together becoming one. The two must be of opposite thought and can only join after overcoming ten years of strife. Then, and only then, will the curse be broken." Severus ended with that and paused again to monitor the faces of the three.

They were all shocked into silence so Severus took the opportunity to continue, "I believe you two are the sovereigns."

"Can you… Would you back up a moment and expand on my family after Amalthea?" Hermione asked her brows furrowed trying to absorb all the information Severus was throwing their way.

He nodded, "Pax and Branwen Malfoy had three children: Alexandros, Amalthea and Alecto.

Amalthea married and had a female child, Amelia. When Amalthea and her husband, who remains a mystery, discovered Amelia to be a squib, her husband left in shame never to return. This prompted Amalthea to leave the wizarding/Veela world and seek comfort in the muggle one changing her name to her mothers' maiden name –Waite, and raising her daughter alone with only a key to pass down from generation to generation.

Amelia Waite, having no knowledge of her heritage of being half Veela, married a muggle named William Sharpe.

Amelia and William Sharpe had a daughter named Genoa, your grandmother, Hermione. Genoa married Victor Peters and they had a daughter named …"

"Jane." Hermione finished for him.

"Yes your mother – all of them squibs. Four generations of magical souls born into daughters who couldn't call it forth, indeed weren't even aware of it. Which would explain why you, the first daughter born of the Malfoy line are so powerful. It has been building for over 100 years, trying to get out." He paused, "You performed the Calling ritual alone, Hermione – that is power!"

"You helped me, Severus." She said not wanting to acknowledge the sheer force of her power just yet to Lucius and Draco.

He was having none of that, "I brewed the potion. You performed the ritual. Were you aware that the last couple of times that ritual was performed it took two grown wizards and one virgin witch to Call successfully?"

She could feel Draco's eyes on her and she avoided his gaze by looking at Lucius' smug expression. She made a face at him and met Severus' knowing stare.

She sighed and looked at the table in front of her, but Draco startled her with his sudden question, "Does this make us related?" he asked his face scrunched up at the thought of almost mating with a relative.

"Yes and no." it was Lucius this time who answered, "Amalthea was the only true Malfoy, her child and child's child and so on were just distant cousins. Four generations of distance means you and Hermione are not related, but since her origins are technically Malfoy, then she is from the Malfoy line."

The younger Veelas nodded in understanding and relief.

"There is something else, Hermione." Severus said sounding grave, "There are very few Veela females. You and Draco are both one-eighth Veela, which means that other Veelas can sense you. The Veela culture is a male dominated one, for good reason." He said

"I don't understand." She said looking from Lucius to Severus.

"Amelia, Genoa and your mother were killed by men not of Veela blood. The pull is very strong and often drives men to obsession. Many Veela males have had their mates taken from them unexpectedly by obsessed males seeking to alleviate their distraction."

"I thought her parents were killed by deatheaters." Draco asked.

Severus looked uncomfortable, "Augustus Rookwood saw Jane Granger at a muggle bookstore. She spoke to him in passing and after that every thought centered on her. He followed her for weeks finally carrying out his obsession one night. Your father was killed trying to protect her. It had nothing to do with Hermione." He finished quietly.

Her breath caught and she fought back tears. It was a relief in a way; she had blamed herself for her parents' demise and come to find that it was some weak minded obsession. She wanted to laugh- a crazy hysterical laugh, but a laugh none the less.

Draco squeezed her hand in a show of support, he could feel her turmoil.

She turned watery eyes to his and his heart felt like it was being squeezed to death by the hand of Merlin, he could barely breathe, his affection for her was so great.

"So why aren't Veela males in danger?" she asked.

Now it was Lucius' turn to answer, "Because feminine mates not of Veela blood handle it better." He said derisively.

She snickered this time and all three men rolled their eyes.

"So their obsession manifests in more of a nurturing manner rather than a destructive one." She stated quite proud to be a woman at this moment. She wore a smug expression that rivaled the one Lucius wore earlier.

"Obviously." Severus said pronouncing each syllable resurrecting the tone he used when Dolores Umbridge questioned him about his failing to become DADA professor Draco and Hermione's fifth year.

She snickered again.

Even Draco was smirking.

"What does this mean for me and…" she let the question trail off

"I don't know, I will continue taking the potion when you are around, but it will be up to Potter and Weasley to decided whether they want to take it or not. Other than that, I presume that the three of us will do everything in our power to keep you safe as well as call upon you to repress the Gryffindor urges to rescue every living soul from damnation." Severus said with a soft smile.

Lucius chuckled as did Draco.

She huffed, "I don't want to rescue _every_ living soul…" she said with an eye roll.

Severus looked at her, "Black. Lupin. Shacklebolt. Me. Lucius. Draco. Zab…"

She threw her hands up, "OK! I get it."

"I need some time… alone, to think about everything." She said and then looked to Lucius, "Mr. Malfoy may I key in my address in your floo so that I can floo home?"

"Lucius, please, we are related after all…" after he saw both Draco and Hermione cringe, "I meant… well, we will be anyway, yes, of course you may." he ended making his way to the floo to unlock it for her.

She stood and with Draco following her she entered her address. When she went to take the floo powder Draco nuzzled the back of her neck, "See you tomorrow." He said softly.

She reached back with her other hand and gently ran her hand down his cheek and turned her head closer to his. She nodded.

Before she left she thanked Severus and Lucius.

"Granger Home!"

Draco looked like he had been condemned to life imprisonment after she left. He just stood there looking at the floo.

"Draco, go to bed. Get some rest, think about all of this. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Lucius said. Draco nodded sullenly and left the room.

"Lucius. Good night." Severus said and floo'd home.

Lucius was alone, "CISSA!"

He rounded the corner to her sitting room and saw her in the corner by the window reading quietly.

She stood when he entered.

He walked briskly into the room, picking her up by her waist and planting her on his shoulders.

She squealed.

His face was squarely level with the apex of her thighs and the skirt of her dress was covering his face. The backs of her thighs were resting on his shoulders and his hands were under her bum holding her up.

He took two steps to the wall and her back came in contact with the cold brick and mortar.

She laid her head back and searched the wall for something to keep her steady.

He was taking long breathes and purring. The vibration from his purring was driving her insane and the heat from his breath made her want to spread her legs wide and hold his head there for eternity.

He pressed forward and ripped her panties off of her.

He licked tentatively, listening to her gasp in pleasure.

His erection pushed painfully against his pants, but he needed to taste her first, to make her cum raining her scent on his tongue.

He gripped her bottom harder and sucked on one of her nether lips. She moaned.

He turned his face slightly and tucked in. He opened his mouth licking every inch of her sweetness taking in every drop of her essence. He nibbled her lips, nipped her thigh, flicked her bud and entered her opening with his tongue.

She was screaming his name in pleasure begging him not to stop.

He moved his hands so that his long fingers were hovering near both her tight entrances. His finger played around the small star beckoning him to push forward. She yelped and moved down to fully sheathe his digit.

He inserted two fingers in her wet hole and listened to her breathing become even more labored. She started to pump gently by stretching her legs a bit.

His fingers inside both of her caves, his tongue flicking and circling her swollen clit. She was going to cum, "OH LUCIUS! OH AAAHHHHHH."

He lapped up her juices and waited until she came down. She slid down his body slowly in a daze.

He held her steady when her lips were level with his and kissed her, moving his tongue against her mouth the way he did to her center.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and was surprised to feel his bare erection against her thigh. He had disrobed and was waiting for her.

He entered her swiftly and pounded her in and out. She gasped at the rough but erotic treatment of her body. He growled as the pressure built inside of him.

They came together with a grunt and a sigh.

POP!

He apperated them to their bedroom and proceeded to part his wife again and again throughout the night.

She was exhausted when they finally managed to sate themselves in the early morning light.

To say that Narcissa was a satisfied woman would be the understatement of the century.


	7. wet dog

**A/N:** A quick note; thanks to all of you for reviewing! I am really enjoying this story and can't wait to finish it. Your comments, suggestions and critiques are welcomed so don't hold back. Thanks again!

_A Veela Tale: Wet Dog_

She walked out of the floo not stumbling at all; she usually did, and straight into the kitchen to set the kettle for tea. Once that was done she walked to the bathroom for a shower, but when she caught sight of herself in the mirror she paused.

She stared into her bright Amber eyes which contrasted brilliantly with her platinum hair, reminiscent of Luna, but with more body. Her hair had full waves like an ocean tide. She shook it and ran her fingers through the silky texture and smiled at herself.

She traced her now blonde and perfectly arched eyebrows – they were a shade or two darker than her hair. Her skin was pale and her lips were the color of strawberries.

She harrumphed a little when she noticed that her freckles were still smattered over the tops of her cheeks and nose, they didn't even fade.

While he was brushing her teeth she heard her phone make a sound indicating a text message, but she didn't answer opting instead to step in the shower.

She needed time to absorb everything that she was told and everything she felt.

She dried off after a long hot shower and put on a baby doll nighty; it was old and tattered, but comfortable. It had tank sleeves with a ruffled top that covered her bosom and then it hung in an empire type waist to mid thigh. It was white cotton and the ruffle at the bottom was hanging on by a thread.

She didn't wear panties to bed so she threw that over her head, left her hair down and walked to get some tea.

As she went to the kitchen she opened her phone and gasped at the number of messages she had, the last was from **Potter: I'm coming over**.

She scrambled to hit reply and send him a quick text that said NO!, but she was too late as her floo activated and Harry and Ron stepped through.

They entered and stopped short when they saw she was staring at them with her phone in her hands; Harry's phone buzzed and he answered only to smirk when he read her frantic message of **NO!**

"Too late." He said

Ron couldn't speak; he just stood there starting at her barely-there night gown.

The floo activated again and Sirius and Remus stepped out looking around, four eyes stopped roaming immediately when they saw the beautiful blonde angel in front of them.

She could see Remus and Sirius' nostrils flare and watched their eyes narrow a little.

She was getting scared, she wanted to prepare a speech and give them time to understand. But most of all she wanted to have Severus and Lucius there – not Draco that would be explosive, he was much too possessive of her and she of him.

Now she was alone with four of her closest friends who happened to be male.

"Have some tea; I'm going to get dressed." She said and practically ran to her room and locked the door.

***

"I feel weird. I'm gonna get some tea." Ron said making a face and rubbing his chest.

He walked to her kitchen and pulled down four cups.

Harry, Remus and Sirius followed and sat down at her table, "I don't feel right either. I'm getting a bad feeling; maybe we should go and come back another time." Remus suggested.

Sirius slowly nodded his agreement, but neither man moved an inch.

***

Draco stepped out of the shower and his heart lurched making him stop. It subsided after a moment of frantic breaths. He figured it was just a part of coming-of-age for Veelas and donned his green silk pajama pants.

***

Severus got home to find three owls waiting for him with messages: Potter and Weasley, Lupin and Black. All of them said basically the same thing; _Have you seen Hermione?_

Severus got a bad feeling; patience was not a virtue Gryffindors possessed, particularly these Gryffindors. They would be tearing down the door wands a-blazing.

He checked his watch, it was 11pm.

Maybe good manners would prevail and they would wait 'til tomorrow. He thought and decided to go against the clenching feeling in his stomach – 'gut instinct'- telling him to check on her opting instead to shower and get something to eat.

***

She put on some old jeans that fit her snugly but not tight, she scowled at the beginnings of a hole underneath her butt cheek. It was white thread right now, but would be a full on hole soon making these pants unwearable.

Her t shirt was pink with a picture of a little white kitten, big green eyes and the bottom said _**Pretty Kitty**_.

She had no idea what a delicious picture of edible woman she made.

She paused a moment and thought about sending her patronus to Severus and Lucius, but decided against it. These were her best friends after all; they would rather cut off their hands than harm her, right?

She paused again with her hand on the door knob, maybe she should at least take down the anti apparition wards… No, they would feel it and she didn't want to offend them. _She was being silly_. She thought.

…but Severus' words rang in her ears, _"Amelia, Genoa and your mother were killed by men not of veela blood. The pull is very strong and often drives men to obsession. Many Veela males have had their mates taken from them unexpectedly by obsessed males seeking to alleviate their distraction."_ He had said.

She sighed and looked at the clock; 11:30. She needed to get some rest; she had to travel tomorrow, and deal with warring clans and listen to men complain about other men and encourage compromise…. _OHFORHEAVENSSAKE!_ she shouted in her head. She was tired, but she resigned herself to give her friends an explanation.

She opened the door and the four men stood in response; she frowned- they _never_ did that.

She smiled at them and walked to the table.

A cup of steaming tea was waiting for her and she took it taking a sip and humming in pleasure, "Thank you." She said

They hadn't spoken; they were all watching her; her hair, her eyes, her skin, her body (that was Sirius and Ron).

"Ok where to begin," she asked.

"The beginning is good." Harry responded in a somewhat strained voice.

"I am not completely muggle. I come from a long line of squibs. My great great great grandmother was cursed by her brother. She was a full blooded Veela born Amalthea Malfoy." She waited for them to catch up.

Remus was the first to speak, "Pardon?"

"Did you say Malfoy?" Harry asked eyebrows raised

"Did you say Veela?" Ron asked – she could hear the wheels turning as he remembered his experience with Fleur their fourth year.

"Oh dear Merlin, Mooney we have to go." Sirius said gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were white.

Mooney nodded rather disjointedly and stood so fast his chair tipped over.

She wasn't thinking and went to pick his chair up and in doing so leaned over Sirius and placed her hand on Remus' hip, swinging her hair she picked the chair up and stood.

Her smiled faded when she realized how close the two were and how pained their expressions.

She stood perfectly still as her brain came to a screeching halt.

Sirius and Remus leaned down and placed their noses in her hair and on her neck taking a deep breath similar to what Draco did, but instead of calming her it panicked her. It felt all wrong.

She decided at that moment to bolt, out the door and down the street where she could apperate.

She underestimated her intent for the element of surprise; Remus was a werewolf and could sense a change. He grabbed her with a growl and kept her steady.

She wanted to cry, but she didn't; instead she looked around to send a pleading glance at Harry.

What she found were dark green eyes filled with desire aimed at her. He placed his hands on her hips roughly and pulled her back to his chest.

She yelped and struggled to get away.

"No, please. It's me, it's Hermione. Please don't do this!" she said to the group, but they didn't hear her.

She tried in vain to call upon 'harpy Hermione' to no avail, she wasn't angry, she was scared.

***

Draco was in bed reading when he suddenly became terrified. He put the book down and looked around the dimly lit room. His chest contracted and he couldn't breathe for a moment. He got out of bed and dropped to one knee grasping his chest.

_This wasn't right_; he thought and focused his energy on calling Lolly to get his father.

It was unnecessary; a knock on the door a moment later came as a relief when he croaked out "Enter".

His father strode in his hair perfect as usual, Draco thought his father placed a charm on his hair never to move from its designated spot unless the wind blew lightly making him more attractive… but back to the matter at hand – the fear.

"It's not you, Draco it's her. We must go." Lucius told his son with a certain amount of urgency.

The boy took a deep breath and stood slowly. He grabbed his wand and walked out the door.

Lucius thought errantly that his son was not wearing a shirt and he alone would have to keep the young Hermione away from Draco long enough for them to wrap their brains around the mating ritual and come to grips with the fact that they would be together, mentally and physically, for the rest of their lives; this included after death, because if one of them died, the other would follow within weeks of his/her mates demise.

***

Hermione could feel the pull, Sirius' emotion was strong and she felt his adamant reluctance to let her go. He was torn though; in some part of his brain he knew it was Hermione and that this was wrong.

Hermione thought if she could just focus; reach out to that bond they shared she could bring him to his senses.

She couldn't focus though, much to her dismay, she could only smell. Remus no longer smelled like chocolate cheesecake, he smelled of chocolate cheesecake mixed with wet dog sprinkled with pepper.

As if on cue she sneezed, which only shook up the pheromones running rampant in the air anyway.

Their grip tightened and both Remus and Sirius were growling now.

A pungent odor was coming from Sirius and she got the feeling that they were not working in concert anymore, but fighting for dominance.

Harry fisted a hand in her hair and pulled her head back. He kissed the nape of neck and she screamed, "STOP! NO NO NO!"

She was struggling against the tight hold they had; they weren't groping her, but Remus and Sirius were kissing her neck and Harry was now licking at her nape.

She felt the tears course down her cheeks as she struggled.

***

Severus was still thinking about Hermione and decided at midnight he would go and just check on her.

He dressed in loose jeans with a white shirt and stepped into the floo, "Granger home."

***

Her floo activated and Draco and Lucius walked through; at that moment the men, previously known as her friends turned with wands drawn gathering around her in a tight circle.

Lucius and Draco drew there wands instantly.

The odor of wet dog and dirty grass assaulted Draco's senses, he could barely smell her. He was angry and getting angrier by the moment. His fangs were growing, his eyes were changing to the silver vapor and his appearance grew even more tense and foreboding.

Lucius couldn't smell her at all; she smelled to him like olives.

He loved olives, he used to stick them on the tips of his fingers as a child and eat them one by one. They always had a jar of olives for him at his home.

The floo clicked again and out stepped Severus.

The tall dark figure acted on impulse from years of spying and cast immobulus spells on Lupin and Black. They fell with a thump, but the distraction only provoked a tighter grip on Hermione's hair by Harry and caused Ron to finally act. He pulled his wand and sent a STUPEFY to Severus in response.

The agile wizard dodged the curse and stood in time to see Lucius yell, "Expelliarmus!" disarming the red head and sending him crashing into the counter. He was knocked out.

Harry yanked on her hair and placed the other hand around her neck pulling her closer.

Draco moved and Harry shook his head menacingly, "Don't." he growled.

"Potter, this isn't you. You're hurting Hermione, Potter. Let her go." Severus said calmly but keeping his wand ready.

After a tense moment, Harry closed his eyes tightly, "I …. Can't… I don't …." He made a noise that sounded like a frustrated sob.

He let her go with a violent push and she ran to Draco jumping into his arms, wrapping hers tightly around him. Her weight didn't even knock him off balance when he found his arms full of warm blooded woman.

He was panting and squeezing her right back, "You'll sleep at the Manor tonight." He told her burying his face in her neck.

He pulled back suddenly and set her down.

"What's wrong?" she asked worried

"You smell … like wet dog." He said grimacing at her, "You'll take a shower immediately."

Lucius barked a laugh and turned to Severus who looked to be struggling, "You must go now." He said quietly.

Lucius knew he couldn't let the two go back alone, so he nodded and floo'd back first.

When the two walked through, he pulled Draco and spoke to Hermione, "I will show you your room."

She looked at Draco and then back to Lucius and nodded.

***

She had showered and changed into sweats Draco had given her; they were large, comfortable and smelled like him.

She settled in and closed her eyes when the door opened a crack, "Hermione?" Draco asked.

She purred in response and he stepped inside the room closing the door behind him.


	8. Cheater!

_A Veela Tale (looong chapter): Cheater!_

She felt the bed dip and warmth spread through her entire body; she reached out to touch him. She couldn't see him very well, but could sense him, "Are you ok?" she asked quietly.

She felt his shrug, "Are you?" he asked

"I am now." She responded.

He sighed and she knew he had run his fingers through his hair, "I feel like I can't breathe without you. I want to touch you, smell you, and hear your voice every moment. It ….scares me a little." He confessed.

She lifted the covers and tugged on his arm gently. He followed and lay down next to her wrapping his arms tightly around her. He took a deep breath.

"I feel the same way." She said not knowing what else to say, he had said it all.

He snorted, "The mighty Gryffindor Princess admits fear? Great Gods mark this day on a calendar!" he teased quietly.

She smiled and pushed him, he held tight.

"We'll get through this together, yeah? Whatever happens." She said resolutely.

She could feel his head move towards her and knew he was looking at her, "yes." he whispered.

She felt his warm breath on her cheek; his soft lips trailing kisses on her temple to her chin. He shifted down to place a kiss on the corner of her mouth, then the other corner; he hovered for only a moment before his lips met hers in the softest most caring kiss she had ever experienced (experience included kisses in the romance novels she was want to read from time to time).

She turned to face him and ran her tongue along his bottom lip; she wanted to taste him again.

His lips parted inviting her in as his tongue swirled around hers and his teeth nipped at her bottom lip. She captured his tongue and sucked it gently shooting an electric jolt down his spine around his stomach and into his groin.

He moaned and moved over top of her. His weight balanced on his elbows, he used his knee to part her thighs and lowered his pelvis to hers lightly.

She bent her knees and opened herself to accommodate his large frame and pressed against him ever so softly.

She sighed at the feeling and caught her breath when he tenderly ground his erection into her center, "mmmmmm." She hummed.

He deepened the kiss and kept his pace slow as he circled his hips.

She moved her hands so one was resting on his hip and the other on the side of his rib cage; squeezing whenever his pelvis met hers.

He moaned again when she started circling her hips to meet his; he wanted to be inside of her, to taste her…He could feel her round breasts against his chest, there was only a thin t shirt separating them from skin touching skin (he wasn't wearing a shirt).

He could feel her pebbled nipples and wanted nothing more than to suckle them at this moment, but as he moved his wet kisses downward, she tensed and placed her small hands on his shoulders, "I…. I'm sorry, I …just" she panted.

"shhh it's ok. We shouldn't yet. You just feel so good to me; we have plenty of time to… Let's go to sleep, ok?" he soothed.

She nodded and settled in.

She wanted him more than anything, but it wasn't the right time. They needed time to get to know each other, get used to the idea of being mates and she needed to identify with the Veela side of her.

Aside from the fact that she was a 21 year old spinster virgin… ok maybe not spinster, but she was a virgin and including him, she had only kissed three boys/men.

This was all new; she's never ever felt this way in her life, not with Viktor, not with Ron, not with anyone.

Viktor had begged her to have sex, but she didn't want to, she just thought she wasn't ready and she didn't feel like he was 'the one'. Luckily he was a gentleman about it and hadn't pressed the issue too much.

"I can hear you thinking, go to sleep." Draco mumbled suddenly.

She snickered, "K." she said and closed her eyes.

***

Lucius walked to Draco's room and knocked on the door; when he didn't hear anything he peeked inside and huffed; the bed was made and no one had slept in the room.

He walked to Hermione's room with a slight shake of his head; he really thought they needed time to get used to things first, before they jumped into mating, but …

He arrived, but didn't knock – though he wasn't sure why he didn't, he just didn't.

He opened the door slowly and poked his head around; he didn't smell sex, which was a good thing and they were both clothed, which was another good thing.

They were facing each other, both of Draco's muscled arms around her; her head nestled on his shoulder and her face buried in his neck – Lucius wondered how she was breathing.

Her arm was bent with the flat of her hand on his chest; their legs tangled together with the covers.

He could hear their quiet purr and the room gave him a sense of calm – he smiled inwardly, she was meant to be here, she was meant for his son.

He was about to duck out of the room, but was stopped by a soft voice, "Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione whispered.

He stepped halfway in the room and looked at her, "Thank you." She said watching him intensely with her bright Amber eyes.

"You're quite welcome …" he paused.

"Hermione." She finished for him with a sleepy smile.

"Hermione." He confirmed, "I've owled the Veela council informing them that we will arrive later than expected. We should depart after lunch, so you have some time, it's 7am now. I've also sent Pippa, Cissa's house elf, to gather some of your belongings from your home. I hope you don't mind." He said.

"Not at all, that was very thoughtful." She said. As he was leaving she asked another question, "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"Is Pippa paid?"

He stifled a chuckle, Draco had told him about S.P.E.W., "No, but she is given the weekends off."

Hermione nodded and was surprised when Draco grumbled something about championing house elves and lost causes… Hermione didn't catch it all, but she got the gist and smiled while pushing him away.

The door clicked shut and they were left alone once again.

POP!

"Time's to get up young Master Malfoy, time's to get up!" Lolly told him while opening the drapery letting the sun in. Hermione groaned at the assault.

"Missy Granger yous get up too!"

"Lolly you're such vile creature sometimes." Draco grumbled as he rolled over facing the wall without a window and pulling the covers up over his head.

"DRACO!" Hermione yelled and yanked at the covers.

"Is ok Missy Granger, young Master Malfoy is such a grump in the morning. He's lucky to has Lolly and he knows it." The little elf declared.

Hermione laughed.

"Lolly I would like to go run this morning, can you find me something to wear that fits?" Hermione asked pulling at her overly large sweats Draco gave her to wear and throwing her feet over the side of the bed.

"I's don't know whats you wear. Why is yous running? Is somebody chasing yous?" Lolly asked clearly baffled by the idea of running for fun.

Hermione had an idea, "Lolly will you trust me for a moment?"

The little house elf's ears plastered to her head as she looked to Draco for permission. Draco had been watching the exchange with some amusement and now he was interested at what Hermione had in mind, so he nodded his approval and the little elf stepped forward closer to Hermione.

Hermione slid to the floor onto her knees and placed both hands on the sides of Lolly's head; she looked into her eyes and focused. After a second Lolly's ears stood straight up and Hermione let go standing with a grace she wasn't used to.

Lolly waved her hand and the sweats Hermione was wearing transformed into a pair of maroon Umbro soccer shorts (reaching mid thigh) and a fairly loose white tee shirt (Lolly didn't think a tightly fitted sports tank top was appropriate for missy Granger).

Hermione had on sneakers with booty socks and a maroon baseball cap in her hand.

"Lolly there is one more thing." Hermione looked at Draco's stunned face and was suddenly a little shy so she turned her back to him making a hand motion around her bosom and pushed another picture (sports bra) to Lolly's mind.

The little elf waved her long fingers and asked, "How's that missy Granger?"

Hermione smiled, "Perfect. Thank you Lolly."

"Young Master needs get up and run with missy Granger." She scolded before departing. POP!

"What just happened?" Draco asked finally finding his tongue.

"I pushed a picture of my usual running gear into her mind." She said casually while making her way to the bathroom for her morning ablutions.

"Oh of course why didn't I think of that?" He said sarcastically, "I'll be back in a second, just need to go change … and stuff." He yelled.

She opened the bathroom door, "OK!" she said with a mouthful of toothpaste and toothbrush.

Her hair was already pulled back into a pony tail and her cap was on. Draco noticed that the cap was not only maroon, but it also had the Gryffindor crest on the face.

Draco smirked at the picture she made, adorable he thought.

They walked downstairs together, both wearing their usual running gear. They passed the dining room and saw Lucius, Severus and Narcissa at the table talking.

Hermione and Draco paused and then made their way to say good morning to everyone. As Hermione entered the room Lucius and Severus stood.

Hermione stopped and then started, she couldn't get used to that, men just didn't do that around her.

She mentally shook her head and stopped in front of Severus after greeting Draco's parents.

She looked up at him and took a hold of his hands, "Thank you so much, Severus."

She stood on her tip toes and pulled at his shoulder for him to bend down – which he did- and she kissed him on the cheek.

At that point, she heard Draco growl and pull her gently away from his godfather dragging her out the door.

Severus followed her departure with his eyes before he sat down again.

"How long have you been attracted to her, Severus?" Lucius asked. He was extremely observant and incredibly perceptive.

Severus glared at him and took a sip of coffee before he answered, "her seventh year. She split her time brewing potions and stocking the infirmary, helping Poppy nurse me back to health, sitting for her NEWTS and studying to take her medi-witch certification. This is all while she appointed herself the guidance counselor for the emotionally retarded i.e., guiding Potter and Weasley through the grieving process." Severus said with disgust at the idea that he knew her friends had never been there for her like she was for them.

"Did she sit for her certification?" narcissi asked.

"Oh yes, she's a healer. Every summer for the last two years she volunteers at St. Mungos for practical exercise. They love it; she's well versed, caring and free." Severus answered.

"How did she do on her NEWTS?" Lucius asked

Severus chuckled, "Transfiguration 110%, Arithmancy 100%, Potions 110%, Herbology 100%, Charms 110%, Ancient Runes 110%, Care of Magical Creatures 100% and Divination 98% - she isn't a fan of Trelawney." He finished.

Narcissa was shocked, eight subjects and only one below 100%, "That's incredible, Severus. Does she realize that her scores are almost unheard of?" she asked.

"She knows, but I don't think she cares."

"She even beat your scores, Severus." Lucius teased

"Yes, I'm aware, thank you." Severus snapped but not too harshly, it was all in jest.

"How did Draco do? I wasn't able to check after he took them." Severus asked.

"Transfiguration 98%, Arithmancy 100%, Potions 100%, Herbology 98%, Charms 100%, Ancient Runes 100%, Care of Magical Creatures 98% and Divination 95% - he isn't a fan of Trelawney, either." Narcissa said with a chuckle.

"Still very high scores, they were the top two graduating students with a Ravenclaw coming in third. The house averages were horrible their year, the Gryffindor house average was 79%, Hufflepuff was 75%, Slytherin came in second with 82% and Ravenclaws average was 89%." Severus told the two, "but there were ...extenuating circumstances as well."

They all nodded and kept a moment of silence only broken by Lucius' question, "Would you recap, for Cissa, the information of Hermione's family and how it ties to the Malfoy line?"

"Of course." He began the long explanation of Pax and Branwen Malfoy.

***

They reached the gates of Malfoy Manor after jogging the loop with relatively no trouble; there were only two women and three men who seemed moved by the two Veelas, but a couple of Confundus charms and they were free to move about the cabin!

"I'll race you; last one to the door is a rotten egg!" Draco yelled as he started running.

She ran as hard as she could and almost caught him mid way, but his legs were longer and he was stronger so she couldn't win… unless…

He tripped and fell, rolling into a small ravine as she sped past him.

"HEY CHEATER!" he yelled picking himself up running to catch up to her – she could almost feel the door within her grasp only to be suddenly disappointed as the tall blonde rushed passed her for the win.

"HA HA!" he said happily opening the door and letting her in before him.

She walked in, "I almost won." She said stubbornly

"You cheated!" he countered.

They walked in matching step for step through the dining room; Severus, Lucius, and Narcissa heard the banter and smiled as they walked in chattering.

"We raced from the gates to the door and I almost won." She told the group.

"Again, you cheated – she cast a spell that made me trip and roll into the ravine!" he said exasperatedly.

His parents and Godfather chuckled.

"I didn't cheat, I merely …leveled the playing field." She said triumphantly.

"In the real world that's called cheating, Granger." Draco pointed out flatly.

"Cheating Miss Granger? How very **UN**-Gryffindor of you." Severus teased in his deep gravel-like voice.

"Yes well, I'm surrounded by Slytherins. What else am I to do, Severus? You know 'when in Rome'…!" She circled the table and walked, with a chuckling Draco, out the French doors of the sunroom and into the garden. She seemed to know where she was going and looked at ease in the Manor.

Once in the sun on the deck, she bent down and began doing pushups – 20 pushups then forty sit ups, 20 pushups then forty sit ups and kept alternating.

Draco had jumped to catch a bar running along the top of the pergola over the deck and was busy doing pull ups. Neither could speak so the whoosh of breathing and the sounds of nature was all that was heard.

Narcissa watched the two exercise in silence. _They made a beautiful couple_ she thought. _They would make gorgeous babies. Bab__**ies**_**. **

She truly hoped they were able to have more than one and she also hoped that the child or children were magical and not squibs. She realized this was a selfish thought, but she couldn't help it.

Lucius watched her watch them; he knew what she was thinking and took her hand softly to squeeze it.

She smiled at him and returned her focus to coffee and conversation, "Why didn't Abraxas die after his mate died?" she asked

"They hadn't bonded yet." Severus said simply.

"She made him miserable." Lucius said quietly referring to his mother.

"Why _was_ she so bitter?" Severus asked.

Lucius sighed, "Her family was pureblooded wizardry; Veela's are still a 'species', no matter how revered we are. Our lines are pure, but not as pure as my mothers. She felt we were beneath her, though she enjoyed the Malfoy fortune well enough." He added with a sneer. "In addition to that, she had no power. No Veela power to influence and none of the power our mates hold. Maybe my father would have been different had his mate lived, but my mother with her manipulative ways and crass manner… she rivaled Walberga Black."

Narcissa cringed in memory of her aunt – horrible woman.

Draco walked in, his shirt plastered to his skin; beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He sat down at the table and grabbed a croissant shoving it in his mouth. His mother snapped her fingers at his atrocious manners and looked at him angrily.

"Will Hermione be eating breakfast?" Lucius asked when his son returned alone.

"I don't know, she said she wanted to cool down for a bit." He said looking outside to the small seated figure in the grass.

He was about to apologize to his mother when three owls tapped on the dining room window.

Narcissa stood up to take the parchment from the birds and offer them a treat. They didn't wait for a response.

"All addressed to Miss Granger." She said

"Call her Hermione mum; she thinks 'Miss Granger' sounds old." Draco said.

Narcissa smirked, "I'll just take these out to her."

"I need to get back to work, two weeks until the full moon." Severus stated.

"You still brew Wolfsbane?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, Hermione convinced the Ministry to let a contract to me as one of the brewers for Werewolf Support Services." He said.

"Please contact me if you need my assistance with Hermione during your …trip."

Lucius nodded and Severus floo'd home.

***

Narcissa walked tentatively to the young girl seated in the wet grass, "Miss Granger these came…"

Hermione was pointing a finger and making a circular motion, at the end of her finger were seven or eight lady bugs flying in a circle. Narcissa was surprised, but didn't let on.

Hermione turned and wiggled her fingers sending the lady bugs flying off in different directions, "Hermione. Please call me Hermione."

"Alright, Hermione…" As Narcissa neared she could clearly see the girl was crying; not sobbing, just silent tears.

"May I sit with you for a time?" she asked gently.

Hermione nodded.

Narcissa refused to sit on the wet grass in her silk skirt so she conjured a thick blanket to act as a barrier. She removed her shoes and sat down gracefully placing the parchments aside for now.

The two women sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Hermione sniffled and wiped at her cheeks angrily, "I hate crying." She said.

"Don't we all." Narcissa replied, "May I inquire as to why are you crying?"

"You'll think me ridiculous, I fear."

"Try me." Narcissa whispered.

Hermione took a deep breath, "You smell like flowers to me, it's a lovely scent and it compliments Mr. Malfoy perfectly."

"Oh, How so?" Narcissa asked.

"He smells like fresh earth after a summer rain." The young girl said, "I feel so safe here. Funny huh?" she said referring to the last time she was there.

Narcissa put her head down shamefully.

"I'm sorry." Hermione whispered.

"Don't be. It was awful." Narcissa responded.

Silence.

Then, "I feel confused and excited and scared with all of this. What if I lose the only friends I've ever known? What if they don't forgive me or accept me? It was hard enough for them to get used to me to begin with."

"What do you mean?" The elder witch asked.

Hermione gave Narcissa a direct stare, "I have an IQ well into the Genius range. I brewed polyjuice potion as a second year student; I mastered wandless nonverbal magic in my third year between taking extra classes with a time turner given to me by Professor MacGonagall. The only ones who knew were Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor MacGonagall and later Severus. The Headmaster performed a series of magical aptitude tests, mine didn't even register on the charts the force of my magic was so strong. They told me that I couldn't share that information with people; not even Harry and certainly not the Weasley's; I didn't understand then, but I do now." She said not elaborating on why it was obvious now.

"I am a certified healer, I have read every edition of Hogwarts: A History published, I am an accredited Potions Mistress- apprenticed under the most talented Potions master alive: Severus Snape, I can translate four dialects of ancient runes perfectly and I have to dumb-down every conversation I have with my friends with the exception of Severus, Remus and now Draco, you and Mr. Malfoy. People fear what they don't understand Mrs. Malfoy." She said quietly.

"All this is happening so fast. I've never had a boyfriend, did you know? Pathetic, right? 21 years old…" Narcissa shook her head but remained silent.

"This is all wonderful – the feeling I get when Draco's around, but it's because we're Veela's. He would have no interest in me whatsoever, if we weren't… I want him to like… love _me_." she paused and gave a self deprecating laugh, "Stupid right?"

Narcissa was about to say No, but Hermione continued.

"During our fifth year, in the midst of Dolores Umbridge (_Narcissa made a face_) and the DA and everything, Draco and I were partnered for a potions project. We, of course, protested violently at the idea of having to be near one another – he near a mudblood (_Narcissa cringed at the word_) and me near a death eater. (_Narcissa cringed again_)

But after all was said and done, we got to work. We would meet in Professor Snape's lab and talk about theories, experiments and articles we read. We didn't call each other names during our time in the lab or feel any anger towards each other. I never once felt like I had to let him copy my notes, or do his share or explain things in a way a four year old would understand it – he was my partner and for the first time ever I felt like I connected with someone." Hermione snorted

"Talk about having trouble coming to terms with that one! I didn't feel anything like that with Harry or Ron, but I did feel a link with our enemy – perfect… and then afterwards everything went back to normal; name calling and judgment from both sides."

Narcissa smiled, "I remember your project. Draco owled home every time you two had lab together. He kept going on and on about how smart you were, what you discussed that night, how nice you were and how it was a shame you were a Gryffindor. I think his crush developed then, but things just got in the way."

This earned Narcissa a snicker from Hermione.

"You two received an outstanding for your project, correct?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes." then Hermione switched subjects, "Did Severus tell you about my ancestry?" she asked.

"Yes." Narcissa answered wanting the girl to talk, she needed to get it out, it was so plain to Narcissa that Hermione had no one other than the snarky professor and that just wouldn't do; sometimes a woman just needed another woman.

"I performed the Calling ritual alone. I had Severus brew the potion and help me practice, but it wasn't because I couldn't do it, it was because I didn't want to be alone in it. I was scared."

"What?! That's very dark, powerful magic Hermione… who…" she stopped and realized, "Sirius Black?"

"Yes. Remus and Harry needed him. After he fell through the veil they shut down." Hermione shook her head remembering.

"Hermione, did you know that the Calling was originally only meant to communicate with a soul long gone? Wizards wanted to know the future and used the ritual as a way to 'discover the truth'." She said in air quotes, "It was never meant to bring back a living being permanently. You did the impossible. Does anyone know aside from the obvious?"

"No."

"The scars you bear won't heal completely." Narcissa told Hermione as gently as she could.

"Do you want to see them?" Hermione asked suddenly, wanting someone else to know; to see.

Narcissa nodded her head, "Yes."

Hermione removed her shirt not caring if anyone noticed, no one would of course – the women were surrounded by tall rose bushes and Malfoy Manor was set on a large field unplotted and heavily warded.

Narcissa's eyes took in Hermione muscled but feminine form, her flat stomach and toned arms, sculpted legs, fine boned wrists and ankles and angelic face… with a smattering of freckles.

_The girl was exquisite_, she thought.

Hermione turned to face Narcissa; she pulled down her sports bra revealing a long thin scar still pink and raised slightly over her heart.

Narcissa's eyes held sympathy for Hermione as she reached a delicate hand to trace the scar.

***

"What in the world are they doing?" Draco asked looking at his now shirtless mate and his mother touching her …there.

Lucius turned around and furrowed his brows. His magic reached out to hers and he smiled.

"What are you smiling about…oh ewwwww!" Draco made a face at his father.

"Get your mind out of the gutter boy!" Lucius told him sharply, "Reach out with your magic to Hermiones."

Draco did and felt great sadness and… relief, "she's really sad and relieved. I don't get it. That's one too many emotions for me at one time." He said.

Lucius shot him a look, "Your mothers heart is about to burst from happiness."

Draco made another face, "She's happy because Hermione is sad?" he asked feeling uncomfortable at the thought of his mother being that type of person.

Lucius sighed, "Your mother loves you with every fiber of her being, but she has yearned for a daughter. We tried for years, tried everything, but nothing worked. Hermione must be sharing something with her, because she feels honored and proud and happy."

Draco understood and was about bursting with happiness himself at the moment knowing that Hermione had someone to talk to and his mother had a daughter.

Both men returned their gazes to their respective mates.

Hermione now had her shorts raised high on one thigh and Narcissa was again touching her.

"What is mum doing? What is Hermione showing her?" Draco asked quietly.

"Scars I would imagine." Lucius responded.

***

Hermione raised the leg of her shorts to reveal the long scar on her inner thigh; this one was not as straight.

"Did they hurt?" Narcissa asked.

"I want to say yes, because logic tells me they should have, but to be honest, I don't remember. They tingle every once in a while, especially if Sirius is feeling particularly strong about something. It was horrible for weeks after he returned. I felt everything the sadness, the guilt, the confusion, the anger – and those were all his emotions, I still had mine to deal with; now I just feel a whisper of the things he does."

Narcissa touched a six inch jagged white scar that ran along the side of her rib cage curving to her belly button, "What's this one from?" Hoping it wasn't from what she thought it was from.

Hermione just looked at her for a moment. Narcissa pierced her lips, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't." she said a little too harshly, "I'm sorry, I mean – it was war and there all casualties of war and that's that."

Hermione bent her head down and put her shirt back on, "Mrs. Malfoy, I… I was the one…you know?" Hermione asked hoping she wouldn't have to finish the sentence.

Narcissa understood immediately and nodded, "Bella was always a little crazy; even as a child she was tyrannical – Andy and I tried to keep our distance, but she was our sister and we loved her. She was also a powerful and skilled witch with a wand. How did you do it?"

"Battle at Hogwarts, we dueled – she got cocky and I didn't take any chances. When she fell I didn't feel relief or avenged, I felt sadness and regret. I apologize to you."

Narcissa took Hermione's hand and squeezed it, "Don't apologize." She took a breath and grabbed the parchment, "these came for you."

Hermione looked at the parchments for a moment and when she looked up Narcissa was gone.

***

"Why do I feel her, we aren't even bonded. We haven't …you know." Draco asked his father.

"It's your magic, it wants this very badly, and it won't wait long, Draco." Lucius paused and then continued, "You should know that Veela's will sense Hermione and know two things: that she is of age and she is not marked. The eligible male Veelas will try to woo her."  
"…but she is _my_ mate." Draco responded hotly. The mere thought of another male even touching her made him want to fly into a rage.

Lucius took a moment and thought about the best way to share the next piece of information with his son, "She is your mate, but she still holds the power of choice."

Draco let out a long breath as if he had been punched – he certainly felt like he had been punched, "You mean she could choose another?"

"Yes."

Draco hesitated before verbalizing his immediate thought, "Then maybe we should keep that bit of information to ourselves."

"Indeed." Lucius said giving his son a conspiratorial smile.


	9. DAMNIT!

_A Veela Tale_

_Dear 'Mione,_

_Words cannot express how deeply sorry I am. I have a million excuses, but none of them good enough. You are my closest friend… Ron too, but …I can't imagine my life without you in it. Please, Please forgive me. _

_We'd like to see you; Snape gave us a potion that he said will help. Please come by this morning, I know you don't have much time, but I just need to see you._

_Harry_

_P.S. Ron's sorry too._

Hermione raised an eyebrow, she wondered if Harry wrote that by himself, it was a little too well-stated.

_***_

_Mi,_

_Yes, I helped Harry write his apology. _Hermione smiled. _I drank the potion Severus offered; I would like to see you. You are as close to me as Sirius is and I can't have you angry at me or feel uncomfortable around me. Give me a chance to prove myself._

_Remus_

_***_

_Kitten,_

_I can't think without knowing that you are alright and that you don't hate me. I love you and would give my last breath to you. Please forgive me._

_Love, Sirius_

_P.S. we have chocolate cheesecake._

She rolled the parchments up and sent her patronus to Grimmauld Place letting them know she would be there in an hour-ish.

She knew he was coming.

He sat behind her his legs on either side of her, his arms coming around her pulling her closer.

Her body reacted sharply and she pressed herself against him harder. Her bottom and lower back in direct contact with his hardened member, "I can smell you, Hermione." He took another deep breath, "you smell so good." He whispered roughly into her ear.

She moaned and closed her eyes. Her small hands caressed his muscled thighs and he flexed in anticipation of her continued touch.

Her hands slowly moved higher underneath the hem of his shorts, "yes, please Hermione."

He rutted against her softly.

His hands that were clasped in front of her came undone and slithered their way to her stomach, under her shirt, sprinkling feather light touches across her stomach making her squeeze his inner thigh… so close to where he wanted her hand to be.

He murmured a quick spell that divested her of her sports bra. She gasped in surprise but it turned into a moan when he cupped her small, but full breast.

He rolled her pebbled nipple between his thumb and forefinger and she moved her hands higher trailing a tickling sensation with her nails.

She was panting at how much pleasure he was giving her, "Oh Draco." She sighed keeping her head laid back on his shoulder.

Her hand reached _him_, making him push forward hoping for more and eliciting a groan from him.

His hands still cupped her breasts brushing his thumbs across her nipples lightly.

"What do I do, Draco? Tell me how." She asked quietly

Had he not been in a hormone induced daze he would have been surprised at her question, instead he responded honestly, "wrap your hand around me, Hermione. Squeeze gently and slide your hand down, then up again. Will you do that? Please?" he asked.

"yes" she whispered sending him into bliss as she wrapped her hand around his hard length and pumped slowly while he pushed forward eager to receive the needed friction.

He was kissing her shoulder and neck; he kept one hand on her breast and moved the other down sliding over her stomach slowly inside her waist band. She gasped and stiffened a little, but kept pumping and holding his balls.

She was leaning back into him, her hands behind her back, her chest jetted forward and her legs out in front of her, one of them cocked to the side to give him more access even while she stiffened.

"Please baby Please. Let me touch you." He pleaded.

"I want you to. I want you to feel how wet I am for you, how much I want your mouth on me, your hands…" the words just came tumbling out, she wasn't the type to talk this way, but she couldn't hold them back, she wanted him to know.

It took every ounce of will power he had to not pin her to the ground and thrust himself inside her when she spoke to him in that raspy voice with those words of wetness on pleasure, instead he reveled in the pleasure her hands were giving him, "That's right, squeeze harder. Yessss."

He moved his hand lower and rolled her nipple with the other; she sighed and pushed back with her bottom. He slid one finger inside her knickers, then two, then his hand delved lower and found her swollen button. He pressed lightly and she purred.

He parted her wet folds with his forefinger and third finger and rubbed her slit with his middle one.

She was bucking softly against his hand now mewling in pleasure.

He needed to come soon, but he wanted to bring her first.

He circled her clit and closed his three fingers capturing her nub in a gentle pinch, "OH! YESSSS! Draco… OH" she was panting again and pumping her hands faster.

He slid one finger inside and marveled at how tight she was, but he only kept his finger inside her for a moment and returned it to her clit.

He rubbed her softly but persistently after a minute she stopped breathing and stiffened, He continued to rub her until she came down, she was bucking her hips erratically into his hand putting pressure on his erection – she was breathing again and had resumed pumping, he came in the next second with a grunt.

His arm squeezed her body tightly while he placed his lips firmly onto the nape of her neck. He wanted to mark her, bite her, but he knew he couldn't so he kept his lips pierced and came down from his high.

Both of his arms were wrapped around her body, one hand splayed across her stomach, the other across her chest, above her shirt holding on to a shoulder.

Both her hands were now resting on top of his thighs.

"Wow." She said.

"Mmmmmm." He responded nuzzling her.

"You don't think anyone saw us do you?" she asked suddenly frantic.

He held her tight and looked back into the sunroom, his father was standing there in the window smiling, but left as soon as Draco turned back around, "No." he lied. She relaxed.

He wanted to tell her something, but didn't know how without him sounding like a teenager.

She felt his mood change, "What's wrong?"

"I…" he cleared his throat, "I've had a crush on you since our potions project fifth year." He told her in one breath.

She sat up and turned effectively separating herself from his warm embrace, "Really?"

"Yes. I know this whole Veela thing is …overwhelming, but I just wanted you to know that I felt something for you _before_ all this. I don't think our connection would be as strong…on my side at least, if I hadn't." he said finishing quietly

He was looking between his legs and picking clumps of grass from where she sat a second ago.

She stilled his hands, "Draco…. Me too." She said. She wasn't good at this, but hoped he understood.

His smile was all the acknowledgement she needed. She pulled him up, "I have to run an errand, but I'll be back before we leave."

"Where are you going?" he asked

She handed him the parchments, "they want to apologize and know that I don't hate them."

He stiffened when he realized who 'they' were, "You shouldn't go alone, love."

Her heart soared at him calling her 'love', "they took the potion. They won't rest until I see them." She smiled and turned to face him, "You men are strange creatures, you know. I'll be back before you know it."

He was terrified that she may be hurt or they would kidnap her and he would never see her again, "No." he said before really thinking about what that word meant coming from his mouth directed towards her.

She stopped, "No? I wasn't asking permission, Draco." She said, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"I can't let you go." He said not being able to stop himself.

Lucius, the nosy bugger, was hiding in the shadows and cringed at his son, then snickered at her reaction – _this was going to be good _he thought mentally rubbing his hands together. Hopefully his son wouldn't screw up too badly.

"What? Wait… Look, I'm going. I won't stay for long. I'll be back here for lunch." She said stepping closer to him touching his arm gently.

"Then I'm coming."

"No – you aren't." she said stepping around him.

He grabbed her arm, not hard, but with enough force to keep her from going anywhere. He was expecting her to try to jerk out of his grasp or yell; what he wasn't expecting was for her to whirl around –wand out – and hit him with some hex that made his legs fall out from under him. He collapsed to the ground with a thud.

She stood over him pointing her finger at him this time, "You don't get to control me Draco. You treat me as an equal and partner or we will die slow deaths, because I will lock myself in a cave and never come out! GOT IT?!" she asked annoyed.

"Yes." he bit out.

She walked away and when she entered the sunroom she waved her hand releasing him from the spell.

"DAMNIT!" Draco yelled then stopped mid tantrum to watch his normally stoic father drop to the ground in uncontrolled laughter.

***

She knew that he was afraid for her, which is why she didn't hurt him AND why she sent her patronus to Severus to meet her at Grimmauld Place.

She took a shower and got dressed wearing her favorite light blue silk skirt, white silk top with ruffles and no sleeves. The ensemble had a jacket too, but it was warm and she looked nice without it. Her shoes matched the skirt and made her feel empowered – 3.5 inch heels will do that to a woman.

Her silky hair was left long except the front sides and top were placed in a silver barrette clasped on the top of her head.

She was wearing her favorite charm bracelet and pearl earrings. She applied some clear gloss and decided she was ready to go.

She walked downstairs to find Draco, Blaise and Lucius sitting at the table heads bent over some parchment.

They stood when they heard the clicking of her heeled shoes – this was definitely something she couldn't get used to, it was a bit unnerving.

Draco seemed to be at a loss for words and Lucius just smiled with an unfamiliar expression…pride? She mentally shrugged and plastered a smile on her face.

Blaise was the first one around the table to take her hand, "Cara… I'm Blaise …"

"Zabini, I know. We've worked together on several projects." She answered trying not to laugh at him.

"Holy shit Granger?"

"Language Blaise." Lucius chided.

"Oh uh sorry, but wow, I mean what the hell happened to you?" he asked

"Long story, I'll let Draco fill you in, I must go, but I'll be back for lunch."

"Oh hey wait, I need your signature, while you're here." Blaise said

"What for?" she asked walking into the room again, Draco was still staring.

"Rupert Scroggins, potions master extraordinaire – living abroad, wants to modify the Wolfsbane potion." He said

"Has he tested it?" she asked

"No, he says it's only a small modification and that it shouldn't harm them."

"Shouldn't? I'm not signing anything until Severus is contacted and Rupert applies for a research grant: attention Percy Weasley. He's in charge of all the research funding for the Ministry. If Severus gives the ok, I will call Percy myself and push for additional funds, but this small modification that shouldn't harm them better have significant benefits. Have a nice day!" she finished with a smile and a wave.

"Hermione!" this time it was Lucius.

She exhaled and turned sharply on her heel, being just a teensy bit frustrated, "Are you going alone?" he asked.

She looked from Lucius to Draco and decided not to argue; they just wanted her safe after all, "No. I asked Severus to meet me there. I will be back by lunch, if I am not… well"

"We'll come get you." Lucius said and she nodded her thanks.

"Is anyone else hot in here? Man Granger is SEXY!" Blaise said after she left.

"Shut up Blaise." Draco snapped.

***

She arrived at Grimmauld place a moment later and walked in, she could hear them chattering in the library, but it ended abruptly when Remus and Sirius came walking out looking for her.

They could smell her.

She smiled, "What did I smell like before?" she asked suddenly curious

"cookies." They said in unison. They both smiled sheepishly at her when they realized they had spoken together.

"What do I smell like now?"

Remus answered, "Warm brownies." She smiled at him, liking the idea that they smelled like comfort food to each other.

She turned to Sirius with the question in her eyes, "home." He said quietly and looked to the floor, she rushed to him in time to see him open his arms to her with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry kitten." He whispered into her hair and neck.

"shhhhh it's ok. I'm not hurt."

They held each other tightly for another minute before he let her go, "Let's go into the library, Ron and Harry are in there."

They got to the library and Harry and Ron stood. Harry paused, but then came and gave her a hug, "Mione, I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. I'm fine." she answered.

The floo clicked and Severus walked out gracefully as ever. He was wearing loose fitted jeans and a white button down shirt rolled up to his forearm. It was sometimes strange not to see him in billowing robes.

"Severus, thank you."

"WHATS HE DOING HERE?!" Ron yelled

"I asked him to come, Ron. There is no need to yell." Hermione answered.

Sirius, Remus and Harry seemed to understand by their nodding heads and relaxed appearances.

"No! You don't understand Mione, I should be protecting you, not him!" Ron told them pointing angrily at his former potions master.

He walked quickly to Hermione and picked her up – strange, nobody thought he would do that so they didn't take any precautions.

She didn't want to panic so she tried something that worked on Grawp those years ago, "Ronald! Put. Me. Down. …Now!" she said pointing her small finger that ended in a pink painted nail at him.

It didn't work. He was backing away so she tried again, "Ronald, I have a meeting and you are WRINKLING MY SKIRT!" She ended that sentence yelling trying to get her wand, but he got his first.

He was pointing it at the four wizards on the other side of the room, "You don't understand Mione. I can't get you out of my mind. I think about the kiss we shared, the time you touched my hand third year when Harry rode Buckbeak, and how you looked fourth year for the Yule ball and when…"

She interrupted, "Ron did you take the potion Professor Snape brewed?"

"No. I didn't know what was in it, what if he was trying to poison me?"

"Ron, will you put me down, we need to talk, and I haven't much time." She asked soothingly.

"We can sit and you can talk – because I love hearing your voice - (eye rolls around the room), but you aren't going anywhere." He said and moved to the chair farthest from the other four and sat with her on his lap.

She hated this. Really really really hated this.

***

Draco took a deep breath, "What's wrong?" Lucius asked, Draco was looked flushed and his fists were clenched.

"She is super pissed off… and a little scared." He said, the latter made him frown, "do you think we should go?" he asked his father.

"You can't go, but I can."

"Why can't I?" Draco asked letting her anger spur his own.

"You are extremely possessive of her. We could walk into an already explosive situation and you could get hurt or someone could hurt you."

He knew his father was right, but he was still annoyed. He nodded curtly and walked upstairs abandoning his paperwork for the time being.

Lucius walked outside and apperated to Grimmauld Place. It had been years since he was last there, but he remembered.

He walked in quietly and caught the eye of Remus, Severus and Sirius from the hallway as he creeped along.

He put his finger to his mouth signaling to keep quiet.

Ron was talking about how he couldn't get her out of his head and she was explaining that these were not his feeling, but similar to a drug. Lucius thought that was too complex an analogy for the vapid red head – he rolled his eyes when he heard, "…but Mione, I love you, I always have." in a whiny voice.

Even Sirius and Severus groaned at that.

Remus gave him a signal and he stepped inside and cast a silent 'expelliarmus!'

Ron was unarmed and Hermione jumped off his lap.

She turned around and kicked him in the shin, "DAMNIT RON! LOOK AT MY SKIRT!"

She was about to kick him again when Lucius waved his wand at her. She felt tingly and looked down at her now freshly pressed skirt and shirt.

She smiled brightly at him; "Thanks!" then turned and kicked Ron again.

He yelped and was still holding his shin from the first kick.

"Looks like we'll need to do this another day, but know that I'm not angry and hope that you aren't either. I love you guys." She said and walked into a group hug.

Severus was making gagging noises as he walked to the floo.

She giggled and turned to Lucius, "I guess I'm ready."

He nodded and they left.

They arrived at Malfoy Manor and were walking from the apparition point, "He can feel you. He loves you."

She looked at him and nodded, "I know."

He stopped and looked at her seriously, "How do you feel about him?"

She inhaled and smiled at the thought of him, "My heart calls for him… every minute of every day, but I won't be forced into something I'm not ready for. I need some more time." She said softly but assertively.

He nodded, "I just don't want to see him hurt, I caused enough pain in his life; he deserves some happiness."

"I don't want to see him hurt either." She said and walked into the waiting arms of Draco Malfoy.

"Are you ok?" he asked

"mmm-hmm" she said into his firm chest.

He chuckled and nodded, "ok, let's eat."


	10. Tired

_A Veela Tale_

Just as they were sitting down the wards alerted Lucius to a visitor. Pippa opened the door and in walked Ginny Weasley with Millistrode.

Hermione didn't even sit down only smiled in Welcome, "Ginny, What are you doing here? It's so nice to see you. Hi Mills." She said.

"We came when we heard…You know Harry, can't keep a juicy secret to save his life." Ginny replied laughing. Her smile faded when she looked around the table, "Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy…" she said curtly, she only sneered at Draco.

"Miss Weasley. Miss Bullstrode. Won't you sit; lunch will be served in a moment." Lucius politely invited though his eyes were cold as ice and his voice held none of the warmth that Hermione had come to know in the short time spent at his home.

"No, I came to speak to Hermione." She responded just as coldly and under her breath said _"…and rescue her if necessary."_

Hermione heard as did the rest of the people present, but no one acknowledged the sentiment.

Hermione didn't want to deal with the hot headed Weasley, but decided if she didn't do it now, it would only get worse.

"We could go sit on the patio in the garden." She suggested looking to Lucius for permission.

His slight nod indicated that that would be a good idea.

"Please, come this way, then." Hermione said turning towards the sunroom.

No one missed the last comment coming out of Ginny's mouth on the way out though, "Wow Hermes you're so pretty now. What an improvement!"

Millicent just closed her eyes and shook her head at Ginny's rude behavior. _She loved Ginny, but she could be such a cad sometimes._ Mills thought.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy please excuse me." Millicent pleaded and followed the two girls out the door.

"Well at least one of them has manners." Narcissa stated annoyed at the young Weasley, "How dare she insult Hermione that way. She should be put in her place."

Lucius and Draco raised their eyebrows at her rancor, "Overprotective are we?" Lucius teased, but only half-heartedly, he agreed with his wife.

Draco could see them from his seat while he ate; Hermione looked at ease, laughed when she was supposed to, conversed appropriately, but her stiff back and tight smiles betrayed her performance.

After 20 minutes the girls came back in with Hermione trailing.

"Well as long as they aren't holding you prisoner my job here is done."

"No I'm fine thank you, Ginny."

"I also need to look over my renewal contract for the Harpies; it's due to signed next week." The red head said snapping her fingers and handing her 'friend' and six foot rolled parchment.

POP!

"Missy Granger, I's need a picture of a muggle thanksgiving turkey. Push me's one, won't you?" Lolly asked.

Hermione laughed at the little creature, she was pretty sure she created a monster. The little creature was constantly asking for pictures to be pushed to her.

Ginny interrupted, "pushed pictures?"

Hermione stiffened and everyone noticed except Ginny.

"Yes missy Granger pushes pictures into my head." Lolly answered proudly.

"What? You're a muggle-born witch…or born from squibs, which is no better. Elf magic then?" Ginny surmised.

Hermione paused, "Yes elf magic. I should do more research on them, yeah?" she said and laughed, but to everyone in the room it sounded fake.

Even Ginny looked at her strangely.

"Well then have a nice day, I'll look through this in a few days." Hermione said guiding them out.

Ginny walked out the door, but Millicent waited behind a few moments, "I'm sorry Hermione."  
"It's ok Mills."

Mills began sobbing, "Oh geez Mills what's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not happy. I love her, but she is awful, just awful. She is so mean to me. Says I'm lucky I have her, because I should be second string… etc." she through herself into Hermione's arms.

Hermione hugged the girl back and patted her shoulder, "shhhh. It's ok, but you must speak to her about this. She won't know unless you tell her." She offered.

"Can I tell you something, Hermione? I'm afraid if I tell her she won't care."

Hermione sighed and gave the other girl a piercing stares, "Look Mills, here it is – You either accept people for who they are or you walk away. Be true to your self and don't run over others." Hermione paused letting it sink in, "You be the best Millicent Bullstrode you can be and that is all anyone can ask. If after you talk to her she still acts the same, Walk. Away."

Mills nodded and smiled, "Thanks Hermione." She said sniffling and walked out the door.

Hermione closed it and stood there looking at it for a moment before she turned around to go back to the table. She stopped mid way to push a picture of a Thanksgiving Turkey picture to Lolly and was almost back to the table when Pippa opened the door to Pansy Parkinson.

Pansy walked right in, "Hello Malfoy family!" she said brightly.

"Hey Pans. Hi Pansy How's your mother?" Mrs. Malfoy asked pleasantly.

"She's doing well, thank you for asking. I apologize for the imposition, but Hermione, we have a small issue."

Hermione remained standing, "What's that?"

"One of the giants stepped on a Centaur foal and injured him. When his mother tried to obtain assistance from St. Mungo's they refused her. Firenze won't talk to anyone but you. He is livid and the entire Centaur herd is offended and ready to protest in Muggle London." Pansy finished with a nervous smile.

"I see." Hermione said and pulled out her phone.

Dialing.

Ringing.

"Mr. Watkins please." She asked and put it on speaker so she could dictate her call as she spoke. Hermione documented everything.

"He's busy right now, May I take a message?" his secretary said.

"Tell him it's Hermione Granger and that it's important." She said more forcefully than intended, but it did the trick.

"Miss Granger, how nice of you to ring. How may I help you?"

"Mr. Watkins I'm calling about St. Mungo's refusal to treat a Centaur foal."

"We just can't do it, Miss Granger. You understand, he's not human."

"He is an intelligent being, Mr. Watkins, and didn't you submit an application for research funding to expand your facilities to include all intelligent beings?" she asked sweetly.

"Miss Granger, we can't. I'm sorry for the foal, but the answer is no."

Hermione sighed, "I see well, then since I have you on the phone let me extend my condolences, I hear you are going through a rather taxing dissolution of marriage. How are you holding up?"

Pansy was smiling at this point and everyone else was baffled at Hermione could get turned down and still ask about the man's emotional well being.

He sighed audibly, "That gold digging bint is trying to financially ruin me!"

"Oh no! That's terrible to hear, Mr. Watkins. Well thank goodness she isn't aware of your family's estate holdings in Tuscany… or your investments with William Darnell. I would feel terrible if she caught wind of that as I was the one who introduced you two. Can you imagine the damage she could do with information? Your Gringotts Vault would be empty! It would be tragic." She said with sugary sweet entirely fake concern.

Silence.

"Well Mr. Watkins, I will follow up with Percy Weasley myself on Friday around noon, to have him reevaluate your application for funding. I'll call in a personal favor – just for you, Mr. Watkins."

Silence.

Then, "Yes, Miss Granger. Good day." He said defeated.

"Good day Mr. Watkins."

Click.

"Wow." Draco said.

"Blackmail Miss Granger. Tsk tsk. Very Slytherin of you." Lucius remarked with a smile.

"Yes, well…" Hermione said embarrassed.

Pansy spoke up, her grin even wider, "Many say that when wizards control and influence it's barbaric, but when witches do it it's art. Well folks, Hermione Granger is an artist." They all laughed, Hermione smiled a genuine smile and spoke to Pansy, "Pansy, I need to contact Firenze and take a look at the foal."

Pansy nodded a little sheepishly, "What?" Hermione asked.

"Their outside." She said.

"Oh dear. Well ok then." Hermione said and walked to the door.

They all followed, curious as to what she was going to do.

"Firenze, please forgive me. I wanted to call St. Mungo's. Where is the boy?" Hermione asked.

"It's fine dear, he's here."

A young boy of about six years in age with a tear streaked face limped closer to her.

She moved closer and noticed a large gash crossing his chest, "I'm just going to clean this ok?" she said softly to the sniffling boy.

He nodded.

She waved her hand over the wound and closed her eyes. In a few moments only a pink scar appeared and the oozing cut was healed.

She slid her hand along his back to his haunches and felt around murmuring spell after spell the entire time. This took longer than expected, his leg was broken n two places and his pelvis cracked.

By the time she was done he was smiling.

She snapped her fingers conjuring a lollypop and handed it to him, "There you go for being such a good patient. Now go get cleaned up and don't play near the giants again until you're big and strong, ok?"

"Yes Miss Hermione!" the boy said enthusiastically and bounded off without Firenze.

The older Centaur flew into action galloping after him and yelling his thanks and good byes from a distance.

Hermione felt a little woozy, but she shrugged it off.

Lucius, Narcissa and Draco all noticed how pale she was and that she was shaking.

She saw their concern and addressed, "I'm ok, just need to sit for a spell then I'll be right as rain."

Pansy shook her head and conjured a glass of water and helped to a seat.

When she walked back to the kitchen, Lucius asked the question, "What's wrong with her?"

"Healing takes a lot out of her. She never turns anyone away and people pull her in twenty different directions every day. Her 'friends' just keep at her, but never give her anything in return. Idiots, the lot of them… maybe not Harry so much, but he does it too sometimes.

It's frustrating to see, Molly, Ginny and Ronald Weasley are the worst. She never does anything for herself, always giving, doing, solving problems." Pansy was annoyed, but realized her audience, "Oh geez, I'm sorry about that rant. I'll just step off my soap box now. Don't tell her I said anything, please." Pansy gathered her items and walked back to her boss, "I'm leaving. Have fun."

Hermione turned and smiled at Pansy, "Ok. I have to go, if you need me send your patronus."

Pansy nodded and walked to the apparition point.

Hermione cast a cleaning spell over her self, then the spell that Lucius used to press her clothes, "Ok shall we go?" she asked with a smile

Narcissa couldn't help herself and embraced the young witch, "You'll come back, yes?"

"Of course, Mrs. Malfoy." And hugged her back.

Hermione ran upstairs, still feeling light headed, and grabbed her ever expandable bag that looked like a clutch purse.

They took hold of the portkey and in an instant they were gone.

***

They arrived at the ancient building and walked into the ornate hallway.

"I feel strange… a little scared I guess." She told the two wizards.

"It'll be ok, we won't let anything happen that you don't want to happen. Just remember they can sense you, so you may feel pressure by some of them." Lucius said.

"They probably won't even notice me, I'm over reacting." She said laughing at herself.

Just then they the unmistakable sound of several chairs scraping the floor as their inhabitants stood.

She expected a mass exodus from the double doors in front of her, when none came, the three walked through to find the entire room filled with light and dark Veelas standing staring at her…


	11. crying

She was pretty sure she was going to pass out, she hated this attention.

She didn't of course, but her feet wouldn't move, she felt like she was glued to the floor. She felt two large, warm hands on her back, one on the small of her back and the other between her shoulder blades. Both gentle, but pressing.

Lucius and Draco shared a look and Draco felt waves of terror from her – he swallowed and placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. He noticed his father followed suit and placed a large hand near her shoulders, _now if we could just get her moving_… he thought and gave her a gentle nudge.

_Be Brave Be Brave… I am a Gryffindor. Where is your courage??? Gryffindor Courage Gryffindor Courage __**I**__ am a Gryffindor. _she thought to herself.

She was walking now towards the older man who was walking towards the three.

She was slightly ahead of them and walked confidently to the man with a smile on her face and her hand out to shake.

Draco and Lucius just stared after her for a moment, "Did she just say that out loud, or did I hear it in my head with her voice?" Drace asked quietly

"out loud." Lucius responded just as quietly

"I always wondered how they kept walking forward in the face of death… they goad themselves into it; strange lot." Draco responded and noticed his fathers slight nod in agreement. The 'they' being Gryffindors.

"Miss Granger?" the man asked looking very confused.

"Yes." she said and shook his hand.

He looked at her with something that resembled warm fatherly affection and grasped her small hand in both of his larger ones.

"I'm Marcus Waite." He said still holding her hand. She could see his nostrils flare.

The smell in the room wasn't unpleasant, just strong. It was raw and masculine; she was feeling warmer by the second and she had the feeling of not being able to catch her breath. It wasn't serious…yet, but in a moment she would need some fresh air.

"Marcus – How nice to see you again." Lucius said diverting the mans attention from Hermione. He felt protective of her, she would be his daughter-in-law soon after all… as long as he could run interference from these vultures.. he thought with a sneer.

Marcus inhaled sharply and smiled at Lucius, "Why Lucius it's been a while." He said but he didn't take his hands off of Hermiones.

She tentatively pulled at her hands while he was greeting Lucius, but he had a firm grasp and she didn't want to be rude jerking her hand away, so she waited and then spoke, "Mr. Waite?" she called.

"Yes chere." He responded immediately gazing into her eyes.

She smiled, but it was uncertain, and looked pointedly down at their still clasped hands, "I'll need that." She said with a chuckle.

"OH! Of course, forgive me. It has been sometime since I've been around a grown Veela female." He said in apology and then continued, "I was unaware you were Veela, Miss Granger."

"I wasn't aware Mr. Waite. This is a …recent development." She said

A call from across the room of standing Veela males broke their concentration, "Marcus, you must introduce her to all of us, her presence has caused quite a …stir." The raven haired man told the room, but his eyes were locked on hers.

She wanted to reach out to Draco, but didn't want to make him feel weird or put him in a position that he would resent her for later.

Draco wanted to gather her up in his arms and take her away – all he felt from her was panic.

She took a deep breath and walked to the raven haired man, "Hermione Granger, Ministry of Magic Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I run the Being Division; and you are?" she asked and held her hand out for him to shake. She didn't get a good feeling from this man, which made her dislike him instantly.

Her dislike intensified a moment later when he took her hand and brought it to his lips; instead of kissing her knuckles he tasted her by quickly licking her forefinger.

She pulled her hand away immediately and was about to yell, but he spoke, "You are unmarked." He stated with some surprise.

She could hear the gasps in the room and then a low humm… some of them were purring.

She was getting dizzy now. Her heart was beating fast and she could feel her fangs growing. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew it had something to do with the purring.

She turned quickly to Draco and Lucius and saw them already moving towards her, she blacked out before they reached her and the raven haired man caught her and picked her up.

He inhaled her scent and went to bury his face in her neck, but was stopped by Lucius Malfoy placing his large hand around his throat, "You will cease, Radu, or we will have words. Give her to Draco."

Radu Dragomir proffered the passed out girl to Draco and shifted his very angry eyes back to Lucius.

Draco took Hermione and gathered her close, he didn't want to leave yet in case father decided to kill the man, Draco could help.

The door opened and a tall very good looking man about the same age as Lucius walked in; he stopped abruptly and inhaled closing his eyes letting the scent wash over him, "What is that positively delictable scent? Is she here still?" he asked, he didn't know who he was talking about, but he knew a grown Veela female when he smelled one… and he smelled one.

He looked at Marcus and Marcus pointed towards the other end of the room.

Draco Malfoy was holding, quite possessively – he noted, a beautiful blonde unconscious angel. Lucius Malfoy had his son Radu by the neck…oh dear lord, he hurt the girl.

"RADU!" he bellowed.

Lucius let go and smirked at Marius Dragomir, "What did you do, boy?" he still called his sons 'boys' even though his youngest was 30.

"Nothing father, just … just.. I've never smelled a grown female before that wasn't related to me. Father she is unmarked." He said earnestly.

Marius turned to Lucius sharply, "She's unmarked and you brought her here?"

"She was invited on her own. It's a long story, one that we'll be happy to explain, but right now I think she probably needs some air."

Draco and Lucius and Marius walked to the balconey with Hermione. Draco sat with her on his lap, "Hermione?" he whispered and nuzzled her neck.

Her eyes fluttered, but remained closed and she inhaled deeply, "Draco." She sighed.

He smiled in relief. He wasn't sure why he was relieved but he was.

"Do you need some water?" Draco asked her.

She swallowed and looked at him, her eyes bright and then a shadow passed; she stood quickly.

***

Fresh air. Deep breaths. Sandalwood and Myrrh, it was Draco. She was safe.

Safe? From what…. Black hair, bad vibe… OH!

***

She looked around, she was on a balconey with Lucius and Draco and a man that looked like the other, but didn't have the same menacing quality.

"Are you alright?" Lucius asked tentatively.

"No, I'm not. If you'll excuse me." she said sharply; she pulled out her wand and walked inside.

All three eyes widened and the bodies flew into action, but she moved fast and was nearing his chair.

He looked up when he sensed her and stood smirking… but only for a second she had her wand at his groin within moments. She reached up and took hold of his ear jerking him down to her level (that's what small witches had to do to get the attention of tall wizards, if you didn't they walked all over you!).

She had the attention of every Veela in the room. You could hear a pin drop.

"I'll say this once and I'll try to use small words. (_Quiet chuckles around the room_) My status is irrelevant to our purpose here. You will mind your manners around me and if I see even one nostril flare in my direction; you'll be growing back important body parts well into next year. (_she shoved her wand even harder into his groin for emphasis_.) Am I making myself clear, Mr. ?"

"Dragomir. Radu Dragomir." He bit out, he was in pain.

"Right. Am I making myself clear Mr. Dragomir?"

"Crystal." He said hoping she would let go of his ear soon. She was twisting it quite hard and he had the urge to cry – he hadn't had _that_ urge since he was seven!

She let him go and turned around looking at the sea of eager faces, "And that goes for the rest of you. One disrespectful innuendo towards me and I will end you… and stop purring!" she snapped vanishing her wand and walking to her designated seat.

She wanted to go home… and cry; instead she argued with herself.

_No_, she said to herself, _you just need to let Draco. Stop fighting it_.

_I don't want to do it because I have to._

_You don't have to, you love him._

_What if he doesn't love me, what if once we bond we find out we don't like each other?_

_Melodramatic much? You know he loves you._

"Hermione?" he was smirking – he recognized the inner conflict.

She focused. Draco was kneeling in front of her holding a glass of water to her. She smiled and took it, "I'm sorry." She said to him quietly, "I don't know what came over me."

"It's quite alright, I'm glad you did it. It will keep me from murdering them." He said casually, but his smile belied the teasing nature of the statement.

She leaned closer, "Can you hear the purring?" she asked hoping she wasn't losing her mind.

"I can feel it like a vibration, but it doesn't affect me like it does you." He said.

"It's oppressive." She said breathlessly

They were interrupted by Lucius, Marcus and Marius, "Miss Granger, we've recessed for the day and Lucius has briefly explained the situation, but I think you need to meet the heads of the four clans and also come with me while I give you a tour, I think you'll find it enlightening." Marcus offered.

She smiled and stood,"I would like to meet them and I want to apologize.. I not usually that quick tempered."

"Your apology is unnecessary, Miss Granger. I'm sure you are a bit overwhelmed and I've heard tell that for a grown Veela woman, many males in the same vicinity can be …maddening." He said with a smirk.

She chuckled – he was nice.

"Miss Granger I'd like you to meet, officially, Marius Dragomir. His clan resides in Eastern Europe – he has two sons, Radu and Petre, and one grandson, Stefan. I am Marcus Waite and you and I come from the same line; Branwen had a brother and I am his descendent. I have two sons as well and no grandchildren as of yet. You know Lucius and Draco; and this is Landers Devereaux. He has one son, Didier and one grandson Daniel."

"No daughters?" she asked and regretted it almost immediately seeing the pained expressions on a few of the men in front of her.

Marius spoke, "I had two daughters. Both were taken from me unexpectedly. I am hoping my sons will have daughters. There aren't many Veela left. Both Marcus and Landers had daughters who were taken. We can keep them safe, but once they come of age and leave the nest…" he paused in reflection, "Many veelas here have not had the pleasure of hearing a female veela purr. It is calming for us, especially if its our mate.

Female veelas are dear to us and many masculine veelas find themselves aging prematurely without their mates. Its sad, but when you came in we could smell you, sense you and it can be addicting to the younger males. I'm sorry if my son caused you distress." He finished.

"I don't know what to say, I'm so sorry for your loss. There is no need to apologize for your son, I understand and I wasn't harmed in the least."

"… Not to mention zee fact zat male veela tread lightly around female veela anyway." Landers added

"Oh?" she asked

"Zay turn into harpiez when angry." He told her flatly.

Hermione wanted to laugh, it sounded so funny, but she restrained the urge and bit her lip instead.

Marcus cleared his throat, "shall we?" he said and lead the way down the hall, "We will start with the House of Malfoy."

They walked into a large oval room, ornately decorated with marble floors and a marble statue of Pax Malfoy in the middle of the room.

There was a blackthorn wood wainscotting three feet from the floor transitioning into hunter green coloring for the walls. It was extremely masculine and screamed upper class.

Portraits filled the space with silver name plates and lineage underneath.

The visitors were quiet, just looking around at the portraits as if they were in a museum.

Hermione was dying, "Is there an echo?" she asked Lucius quietly. He was about to answer when they heard grumbling from across the room.

She turned just in time to see Hyperion Malfoy puff out his chest and respond, "of course we do girl. We are pureblooded wizards. Veela of the highest regard. 'Is there an echo' Indeed!" Hyperion said indignantly.

"Give it rest father. It was a valid question." Abraxas told the man with an eye roll that made her laugh.

He smiled, "such a lovely sound, your laugh. Hermione had a laugh like yours." He said wistfully.

She stopped laughing and tensed. Lucius was caught completely off guard and Draco was trying to hide his smug expression at the thought that he had something in common with his grandfather; someone his father didn't care for… (a little rebelion there for you folks!).

"Well why is everyone so moody of a sudden?" Hyperion asked

"Because my name is Hermione and it isn't exactly common." Hermione replied softly.

"Come closer my dear, this dim light they keep us in does nothing for our eye sight." Abraxas asked.

She moved forward to stand in front of and in between Hyperion and his Abraxas, "What do you think father?" Abraxas asked staring at her.

"Well, weren't your Hermione's eyes silver and not Amber? She was taller too if I remember correctly."  
Abraxas sighed,"Yes, you're right, but that musical laugh."

"You know you she really resembles?" This voice came from the left of Hyperion; Alexandros.

"Who?" Abraxas and Hyperion asked in unison.

"Amalthea." Alexandros responded.

"Where is she?" Hermione asked.

Marcus answered,"she's in the next room with the Waite's"

She caught a flicker of eye movement from the portrait resting next to Alexandros, but it didn't speak. Flicker again when Alexandros said Amalthea.

She moved to stand in front of it.

"That's Alecto. He hasn't spoken in years." Marcus informed her.

She felt a connection to him, though she couldn't explain it. She knew his echo was aware, his eyes were moving, "Why did you curse her so?" she asked softly.

His head tilted, which brought a gasp of surprise from the room, Alecto didn't ever move.

"You… (_he cleared his throat_).. You are a daughter of Amalthea?" he asked quietly.

"yes." she answered not breaking eye contact.

"…with magical abilities?" he asked.

"yes." she answered.

"your mate?" he asked these simple questions, but she knew why.

"Draco." She said.

Draco felt warm and safe at that moment when he looked over to his grandfather and great grandfather, they gave him the thumbs up… or equivalent signaling their approval.

"Too young." He said sounding defeated.

She gave him a small smile,"We've known and hated each other since we were 11 years old."

"Strife…" he whispered hope lighting his eyes.

"Strife." She confirmed.

"What are you on about Alecto?" Alexandros snapped scowling at his brother.

"Leave him be, boy." Pax spoke and everyone quieted, "Come here girl."

She walked to the other side of the room. His portrait was larger than life – at least seven feet tall.

He looked down at her and his face softened, "You look just like her… and her mother." He paused and spoke again, "Branwen was my mate in all things. She worked beside me – except when she was ripe with our children, she fought with me, she was kind and had a keen mind that I struggled to keep up with; Amalthea was so much like her mother. It pained me to see her go, but it killed her mother.

My mate left this plane shortly after Amalthea left our world taking Amelia with her. I remember she gave Amalthea a charm bracelet with a key to pass on to her daughters. It's probably long lost by now." He said his voice soft and mournful.

She looked down at her wrist and raised it for him to see, "No. It isn't."

Every man in the room was shocked, including the portraits.

Pax smiled, "Well then girl, you're richer than the Malfoy's here, because that key opens up a Gringotts account. Branwen started it for Amalthea after she found out Alecto cursed her. It was so that if she ever needed it or one of her daughters ever needed it, then it would be there.

She made Alexandros take a wizards oath that he would deposit 20% of the annual Malfoy fortune into the account and then made him vow to have his sons take an oath that they would do the same, until such a time when the curse was broken and the fortunes combined."

"That's where the gold is going?" Lucius asked astonished.

"That's what I just took an oath for?" Draco said in the same tone.

She was getting ready to giggle, maybe not the right word – fall down laughing is a better description, she was so light hearted.

"There is one more thing girl." Pax said

Hermione felt uneasy.

"You don't have a mate." He said

"Well we haven't bonded, but…"

"No. only male veela have mates girl. It is our job to prove ourselves worthy to you, but you _can choose_ if you have multiple suitors."

Draco and Lucius groaned.

She whirled around, "You knew?! You sneaky bastards!"

"It's late, why don't we pick this up tomorrow?" Marcus suggested.

"Yes, thank you. Good night." She said and exited leaving the male veela alone with the portraits.

"You're in trouble." Abraxas called to his grandson.

***

She showered and was lying in her bed with her towel around her looking at her bracelet, when a knock sounded at the door.

She smelled him. "Enter." She said

He opened the door and frowned, "it could have been anyone." He scolded.

"I knew it was you." She said.

"I'm sorry." He said, "for not being honest, but I was… still am scared. I …"

She waited, she wasn't going to make this easy for him, "You?.. what?"

He looked at her and slowly picked his hand up to glide lightly across her collar bone around her shoulder, up the slope of her neck, circling the shell of her ear.

Her eyes shut and her breathing became more difficult.

His fingers came down her cheek, across her lips, followed the line of her jaw, to her neck – chest; tugging the rim of the towel and parting it revealing flawless glowing skin, untouched by another.

He only pushed the towel open enough to leave a small trail of skin down to her center. He followed that road to pale wet curls at the juncture of her thighs.

Before his finger arrived at the oasis, his lips descended upon hers in a gentle kiss that he hoped conveyed how much he loved her – had adored her since fifth year.

"Draco…" she whispered and opened her eyes to gaze into his, she knew.

He snapped back to his senses – he was going to do this right- he pulled her towel closed no matter how much it physically pained him to do so and asked, "Will you go to dinner with me?"

She smiled and it was a beautiful thing, "I'd love to."

"Pick you up at 8." He said, gave her a quick kiss and left the room.

She had a mild spaz attack on the bed, giggled the entire time she did her hair and got dressed, but by the time he came back she had regained control of herself and was ready.

She looked astounding, she wore a straight silk tank dress that fell just short of mid thigh, revealing her long sculpted legs. The dress was a dark burnt orange in color wearing gold strappy sandals with a 3 inch heel.

Topaz jewelry in her ears and around her neck. Her hair was in a sleek pony tail and her make up gave her eyes an almond shape and emphasized her lips.

She smiled at herself in the mirror – Aphrodite herself couldn't be prouder.

She walked out and closed the door smiling at her mate – she knew what Pax said, but she had already chosen.

"Draco? Are you alright?" she asked sweetly knowing he had never seen her look this …smoking hot.

"Yes, ..you are…. I have died and gone to heaven." He said

He lifted his arm for her to take and together they walked downstairs. She could hear baritone voices in the large foyer of the building; it were the veela gathering for their various dinner plans.

As she and Draco walked down the stairs all conversations ceased and she caught every eye in the house.

Lucius walked up to the two,"You look …divine my dear. Be careful." He said and winked at his son.

They walked out hand in hand.

Radu couldn't take his eyes off of her, "Father did you see her? She is more beautiful than any wild flower I've seen. More beautiful than Aphrodite herself!"

"Still your tongue boy or you will anger the Gods! If you want her, you must court her. You must win her over from that snake Malfoy." Marius told his son.

***

"Dinner was wonderful." She said.

"Yes."

"What's on your mind?" she asked

They came across a bench and he sat down pulling her on his lap – it was a habit he had and she loved it.

"There is so much I don't know about you and I want to, but I sometimes can't think around you. I start thinking about your beautiful legs (_he squeezed her thigh for effect_) wrapped around my waist…I just.. I'm sorry." He said.

"Don't be. I feel similarly." She comforted, "So what do you want to know?"

He smiled (_this was going to be fun_), "Am I the best kisser you've experienced?" he asked laughing.

"Draco! Goodness. Yes." she answered sighing.

"Were you scared during the war?" she asked him.

His face fell, "Yes."

"Why a healer?"

"During the war, there were so many I didn't know how to help and if I would have known more then they would be alive today." She said.

"Like who?"

"Fred, Tonks, Dennis Creevy,Professor flitwick. To name a few. There were countless others who I didn't know that were alive and in need of help when I came across them." She answered.

"Who did you lose your virginity to and where?" she asked.

He chuckled, "so we're going there huh? Ok, Pansy Parkinson at her families summer home right before we started sixth year."

He was about to ask the same question but she cut him off, "How many girls have you slept with?"

He smiled again and shifted in discomfort, "ummm 11."

"So averaging about three a year, not bad Malfoy." She teased.

"And you? Who deflowered you?" he asked smiling.

She paused, "You know, we should start back." And stood.

He followed and waited thinking that she was embarrased by her first, but then as the seconds ticked by, "Granger, who deflowered you?" he stopped her from walking on and raised her chin so she was meeting his gaze.

Amber eyes met silver and she shook her head. It was almost unnoticeable, but it was there.

The negative.

No.

She was a virgin.

He paled a little, "Draco are you ok?"

"But you're 21." He said a teensy tiny bit louder than he wanted.

"I know."

"But …but… ohmygods… out in the garden this morning, you _didn't_ know what to do – _that's_ why you asked me. I thought you were just being…. being…" he was reacting badly, he knew it, but he couldn't stop. He was scared that he wouldn't meet her expectations or that he would hurt her. He didn't want either of those things, he wanted to make her happy and wanted to be happy, but this – he would disappoint her, he knew it.

"Coy?" she finished for him

"Yes. coy."

"No." she said softly.

"We should get back." he said taking her hand and holding it, his thumb brushing over her knuckles lovingly. He wasn't even aware he was doing it, but it put her a little at ease.

He walked her to her door, "Good night." He said and bent down to give her a soft, chaste kiss.

She wanted to jump into his arms, but she instead returned his kiss, "Good night."

He walked away, down the hall he disappeared into the dark, his broad shoulders straight with confidence.

"I can feel your sadness, ma fata draguta." Radu stepped out of the darkness and into the light, "Why do you cry this night?" he asked slowly, very slowly lifting his hand to wipe a tear off of her cheek.

She tensed.

He could feel his soul want to soothe this veela female.

Heat was coming from his body and he was purring. When he touched her she closed her eyes and felt her body respond.

He smiled when he felt her purring, "Draga, tell me what's wrong."

All of her frustrations, both sexual and non sexual, came to a head. She was heartbroken that Draco reacted the way he did when she told him. She was tired of being alone to console herself, besides she was never going to see this man again after she left here and Draco and her bonded.

She sobbed suddenly and threw herself into his arms, crying on his shoulder, "shhhshhh draga, shhhhhh."

This was harder than he thought; her scent and purring were driving him wild.

***

KNOCK KNOCK

Lucius answered the door with one eye closed, "What?" he snapped with sleep in his voice.

"She's a virgin." He blurted out to his father leaning his head against the door frame.

Lucius was mildly surprised, but not completely, "Well that's a good thing. Why are you so… What did you say when she shared this bit of information?"

Draco looked at his father, "Let's just say I didn't react well and leave it at that."

"You idiot. Go back there and tell her you love her. Right now."

"I can't she hates me."

"Do you love her Draco?" Lucius asked harshly

"Yes."

"Gods, Boy, then tell her!" he practically yelled slamming the door closed making Draco take action.

Draco sighed and walked back the way he came; as he rounded the corner he saw her throw herself into that git Radu's arms and cry her heart out. Draco would have smirked at the Romanians baffled expression had he not been in a rage.

Wand drawn he pounded down the hall, "Stupefy!" he cast causing both Radu and Hermione to be knocked into the wall.

She got up after a moment, "Draco? What the hell are you doing?"

"ME? What am _**I**_ doing? What are _**you**_ doing?"

"YOU ….REJECTED ME! and he seemed like he cared why I was crying and no one's ever cared before, so I got a little carried away." She started strong, but she ended sheepishly.

"He doesn't care, he wants to mate! I CARE, Hermione. I… Love you." He said and looked away, he felt very emotional – he hated that.

"I'm just going to go." Radu said coming to the conclusion that he didn't stand a chance.

"Well why didn't you just say so?" she said still sniffling.

"Do you….do you love me Hermione? I need to know."

"Yes Draco, I do." She told him softly caressing his cheek.

"Then can we just solve these veela issues and get on with our lives - together? I can't take this anymore." He pleaded.

She giggled, "Is that you're idea of a marriage proposal?" she teased

"No, but this is." He pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and got down on one knee, "Hermione, I know this is soon and I know you're scare, but I know that I love you and can't see myself living without you. I want to see your face staring back at mine every morning, Will you be my wife?"

She was crying again, "Yes." she whispered.

He opened the box and inside resting on the velvet was a heart shaped diamond solitaire with small round diamonds set in the platinum band. She loved it.

Lucius peaked around the corner, "Oh thank Merlin." He walked back to his room thinking; _now we can get down to business._

(**A/N:** few more chapters a little more drama left and some serious lemons.)


	12. Not bad, Miss Granger

He couldn't take it anymore. She was there again, sitting at the same table she always sits, sipping on her latte, shirt ridden high on her thighs giving him a lovely picture of her long luscious legs; ones that he had pictured on more than one occasion, planted solidly over his shoulders.

He tried to ignore her, really he did, but every time he walked to the front of his store he had an open view of her just over the floating Quidditch broom in the window. _UGH! That's it!_ He thought with some determination.

He slammed the invoices he was holding down on the counter and marched straight through the store front, out the door and across the cobblestone street. He found himself standing directly in front of the demure woman without a coherent thought in his head.

A moments silence made Pansy shift (to give him a better view, such a tease.), "Will you be standing there all day ogling my legs, Potter, or did you come out here to say something?"

He knew what he wanted to say, but it wouldn't come, so he sat and motioned for the waitress to bring him some coffee.

His green eyes looked back at her and she responded by arching a perfectly shaped eyebrow back at him.

He cleared his throat, "We're going to dinner, you and me; I'm not taking no for an answer. This has gone on long enough." He said sounding confident, but his mind was reeling.

He was accustomed to letting Hermione push him into taking charge, not acting independently.

"Why I'm quite unaware of what you mean, Potter, but if you are inviting me for dinner, then I accept." She said taking another sip of her latte and smiling inwardly when his eyes fixed onto her lips. She snaked out her tongue to touch the rim of the cup …just for good measure.

"Fine, you can expect me at 7:30." He said standing, "And wear something… short."

When he entered his store and looked back around to where she was sitting he found her table empty.

He grinned, today was beginning to have potential. He walked to the counter and wrote a quick note, calling his owl - Artemis to deliver the parchment to Grimmauld Place.

***

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Snoring.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"mmmmm" the sleepy man groaned.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sirius popped his head up and saw Artemis perched outside the window waiting patiently for someone to let him in, "Ok Ok." He padded over to the window not bothering to cover his naked form and opened the window. He untied the rolled parchment and pushed the small bowl of owl treats toward the bird and padded back to bed.

"Who's it from?" Remus mumbled from under the pillow.

"Harry." He read the note and smiled. Nudging his lover he handed the note over, "Read."

Remus sighed and rolled onto his back taking the note.

_Moony, Sirius – _

_Have a date with Pansy…TONIGHT! Don't know what I was thinking… she'll expect swov and devenaire and I'm so not. Help._

_Harry_

"He spelled suave and debonair wrong." Remus said.

Sirius accio'd a quill, wrote a quick note back and called to the bird; he tied the message to its little leg and sent it on its way.

"Since we're awake." Sirius rolled over trailing his hand across Remus' stomach following the trail of sandy hair to his prominent erection, "Is that a beaters bat or are you happy to see me." he teased.

Remus growled and pushed into Sirius' hand kissing him without abandon…it was a good morning indeed.

***

Artemis flew back in less than twenty minutes and Harry unrolled the message:  
_Moony says your spelling sucks. Come by after work._

_SB_

***

It was 5:45 am and Hermione was awake. She had been for a while; she was lying in bed staring at her ring. It was lovely.

She thought about everything that happened yesterday and sighed. She mentally made a checklist and went through them one by one:

She's a Veela.

Her friends have to take a potion to be around her.

Ron is an idiot …and potentially dangerous.

She loves Draco Malfoy.

She's engaged to Draco Malfoy.

She's rich.

She huffed; those were the hot items at least. She thought about last night and smiled.

_****Flashback****_

_She giggled, "Is that you're idea of a marriage proposal?" she teased_

_"No, but this is." He pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and got down on one knee, "Hermione, I know this is soon and I know you're scared, but I know that I love you and can't see myself living without you. I want to see your face staring back at mine every morning, Will you be my wife?"_

_She was crying again, "Yes." she whispered._

_He opened the box and inside resting on the velvet was a heart shaped diamond solitaire with small round diamonds set in the platinum band. _

_He stood and slipped the ring on her finger. She stared at her hand with the sparkling diamond, "It's beautiful." She told him, but then looked up at him with a question in her eyes._

"_Before dinner after I left you." He answered before she asked when he got it._

_She nodded, "so what do we do now?" she asked and then continued before he could respond, "I… I would like to …wait, until our wedding night, Draco." She said it quietly taking a sudden interest in the design pattern on the carpet._

_He lifted her chin with his finger. When her eyes met his she saw love and understanding staring back at her, "I would like to as well." He said and placed a soft kiss on her cheek._

_The kiss, though soft and on her cheek, had enough feeling in it to kick start her heart prompting her body to react to his close proximity. _

_She could feel the heat from his body increase and his scent of sandalwood and myrrh invaded her senses. _

_She had to step back, she was purring and he was purring and his erection was poking her in the stomach, "Draco…" she said panting, running her tongue along her elongated and sharpened teeth._

_He swallowed and closed his eyes trying to regain control of his senses, "I know. I'm going. Good night sweet angel." He turned and walked back to his room._

_****End Flashback****_

She stood up and dressed in her running gear and walked out the door.

Knock. Knock.

She opened the door slowly, "Draco?" she called

"mmmmm" he grumbled.

He was lying on his stomach with the pillow over his head and the covers gathered at his waist barely covering his firm, round bum; so low she could see two dimples at the top below the small of his back.

"Are you going running?" she asked.

He shifted and poked his head out from under the pillow. He eyeballed her and she giggled.

"No, just want to sleep." He said closing his eye.

"Ok, I'll come get you for breakfast then." She said smiling at her sleepy fiancé.

"mmmmhmmm" He wasn't really sleepy. He had been awake for an hour trying to get rid of the painful hard on he was currently enduring. It was maddening, all he could think about was that dress she was wearing last night and her legs… _great gods!_ He ground his erection into the mattress and groaned.

His palm pulsed with the memory of yesterday morning in the grass as he cupped her firm breasts. They weren't large, but they weren't small either. Proportionate to her body and just short of a handful – he had large hands – he envisioned her breasts were perfect. He longed to see them, to taste them… _UGH_!

He needed a cold shower.

***

She walked down the hall and ran into Lucius coming out of his room, he was wearing blue and white sports pants, white sneakers and a t-shirt – she had never seen him so… casual, "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Good morning Hermione. How are you this morning?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"You knew?" she asked smiling at him.

"I suspected…" he said and when she narrowed her eyes at him, "Ok I knew. I owled Cissa already and she responded immediately with capital letters and exclamation points. She usually makes me wait for her response and doesn't normally use such… emotion in her correspondence. Needless to say, you have an ally in her." He told his soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

She held up her hand to show him the ring, "isn't it lovely." She said with a happy sigh.

He took her proffered hand gently and nodded with approval at the ring his son picked out, "It is." And then, "Doesn't Draco usually run with you in the morning?" he asked.

"Not this morning apparently, he's still asleep." She answered, then looked at him quizzically, "Do you run Mr. Malfoy?" she asked her voice hopeful.

"I do. I was just on my way out the door; would you like to join me? Though, I'm an old man now so go easy on me." he asked with a smirk, but she had the sneaking suspicion she had just been issued a challenge.

She raised an eyebrow in response, "If you're lucky." She said and opened the door letting the light breeze and fresh scent fall over her.

The breeze also carried _her_ scent to some nearby Veela males who gasped in pleasure as it surrounded them. She didn't notice, but Lucius did and sent a menacing glare in their direction.

They ran in companionable silence. They kept a fast pace, faster than her normal one.

Every time he increased his pace she would match it. She was not going to let him win.

She was being challenged alright, her muscles were screaming at her to stop. She was sweating profusely and her shoulders were starting to ache. When they finally turned a corner she saw their building come into view.

She wanted to cry she was so happy. She looked at him – he wasn't even sweating!

_Git_. She thought.

They jogged to a stop; she bent over placing her hands on her knees trying to get her breathing under control.

He was stretching and she noted with some jubilation that his breathing was not normal…though it wasn't labored either. She mentally growled at him.

Once her heart rate was under control, they walked inside, "Do you always run alone?" she asked him wondering why he never came with Draco.

"I used to run with my son, but he abandoned me for some know-it-all swot." He teased.

She laughed out loud, he had never really blatantly teased her; she enjoyed it immensely.

"How long is your usual run?" he asked.

"The loop is about 8 miles and we run that every morning then home for push-ups and sit-ups."

He nodded, "We just ran 12 miles at a slightly faster pace." He said

"Slightly faster?" she asked exasperated.

He chuckled, "you're running a 7 and a half minute mile so it takes you about an hour to run your loop. We just ran somewhere in between a 6 and a half to 7 minutes per mile for 12 miles. Not bad, Miss Granger." He was wearing a condescending smile, "I'll meet you and Draco for breakfast in 45 minutes." He said and walked to his room.

"Not bad?" she said to herself thinking she did much better than 'not bad'. She knocked on Draco's door.

***

Draco threw his feet over the edge of the bed and walked crookedly to the bathroom, his hard on bopping up and down as he walked.

He turned the cold water on with only a small turn from the hot water faucet and stepped in. He hissed as the icy shower hit his skin, but his erection wasn't going away… he groaned.

After a few minutes of letting the cold water pound over his nether region he shivered and resigned himself to warming the water up and taking care of the problem himself.

With his forehead touching the cool tile he wrapped his hand around his member and began the familiar motions for temporary satisfaction.

His mind was flashing pictures of her smiling, of her eyes as they glowed after he had brought her to climax in the garden, they way her legs and bum looked when she ran in front of him on narrow parts of the trail, the way her dress last night had risen high on her thighs bringing the hem dangerously close to revealing her sweet center when she hugged him, her lips, her tongue, her neck – _he was pumping faster now_ – her panting when he rolled her nipples between his fingers.

"_unnngggh_" he watched unseeing as his warm seed circled the drain the water washing it away. His breathing hitched and his body relaxed; he sighed and hoped she wanted to marry soon, he didn't think he could wait for a year.

He grabbed the soap and started to get ready for the day.

***

"Come in" he called when she knocked – he knew it was her, he could smell her.

She opened the door and he smiled, "you just get back?" her face was flushed and she was still breathing a little hard, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I ran with your father. Sweet Merlin! My muscles already ache and he told _me_ to take it easy on _him_! What a crock!" she ranted jokingly.

He was laughing at her, "Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"Father is a Decathlete. His usual pace is around five minutes a mile for 15 miles. You probably only ran 10 at a slower pace?" he asked

"12, but yeah. I feel good though. It would be nice to run with him more often… not every day, but every once in a while." She said then wrinkled her nose – she caught a whiff of herself, "I need to shower. See you in about 40 minutes?" she asked.

He nodded and she leaned over to give him a quick kiss then turned clicking the door shut behind her.

He looked down at his semi-erection and sighed, he would need to take care of himself again before breakfast.

***

There was a message waiting for her when she entered her room:  
_You'll never guess!...,ok maybe you will, but I'll tell you anyway – Harry Potter asked me to dinner!_

_How do I act? What if I intimidate him and he never wants to see me again??? Help please._

_Pansy_

Hermione laughed, "About time Harry." She said aloud.

Gathering parchment and quill she wrote back.

_Harry doesn't intimidate easily. Be yourself… and wear something short, he's a leg man!_

_Mimi_

***

Just short of an hour later two Malfoys and one Granger walked downstairs for breakfast, most of the male veela stood as she entered the dining hall. She was uncomfortable, but gracious as she smiled at the show of chivalry.

"Miss Granger – A vision in pink today, lovely." Marius greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning Mr. Dragomir. Thank you." She responded

He followed her back to the table and greeted Lucius and Draco, "Please join us Marius."

"Thank you. I was hoping to get your thoughts on how quickly we can resolve this issue between the clans. It's a problem we all face." Marius said sadly.

"What is the problem exactly, my letter of invitation didn't specify." Hermione asked

"The problem in a nutshell is the diminishing numbers of veela and the safety of our females. Some clans want to petition the muggle governments for assistance in protecting them, while other clans are adamantly against taking, what they deem, unnecessary measures by increasing the danger to our already endangered female population.

Veela are sexual creatures, most _wizards_ have trouble fighting the pull around female veela, muggles don't stand much of a chance at all. They feel inviting muggle authority would increase the risk of exposure." He told the group.

"And how do _you_ feel Mr. Dragomir?" she asked.

"I agree that inviting muggle authority would increase our risk, not lower it." He said

"So what do you propose?" she asked him.

Lucius smirked, most men would find it intrusive, even aggressive, for another man to ask such direct questions, but coming from Hermione, the questions came across as curious and interested - harmless. He suspected she knew exactly what she was doing, taking advantage of the fact that most men underestimated pretty witches and were caught off guard enough to allow their egos to answer honestly, giving the 'pretty witch' in question the upper hand.

Draco watched her closely; he could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. These men had no idea how brilliant she was; if they knew they would never share this much of a personal opinion with her.

Marius pondered her question and was about to answer when he looked at her. Her eyes were not sparkling in awe of his knowledge or beauty, they were keenly intelligent and … calculating. He remembered _why_ she was here; she was the running the Being Division.

The two youngest division directors in Ministry history were seated at this table and here he was giving her more information than he should.

He smiled, "I propose all four clans sit down and talk about solutions." He said watching her reaction.

She smiled at him and took a sip of her coffee. She didn't press for more information after that.

The bell rang signaling the beginning of the meeting.

The four veela walked in and took their seats waiting for Marcus Waite to convene the session.

"We'll come to order. I will state the issue thus far, for those of us who arrived yesterday." He said looking towards Hermione.

"The safety of our females and the decreasing numbers of veela born due to this problem. We have opposing views concerning a solution:

Engage muggle governments requesting assistance and protection on our borders; while enacting the marriage law for ten years or until such time as we see a marked increase in veela births.

-opposing view-

Engaging muggle authority would increase danger to veela females, so we should instead keep our females 'in house' until the day they marry and release them into the protective custody of their husbands, chosen by the female's father. At that time we would permanently inhibit their prowess with the _Seven Spell_ leaving them less likely to entice other males."

Hermione was at the end of her rope, this was barbaric. They are placing the onus solely on the female!

"Excuse, Mr. Waite." She called her tone matter of fact and her posture straight, "Would you explain the Seven Spell for me, please?" she asked with a smile, though, Lucius noticed it as her 'I'm harmless trust me' smile – it usually meant business.

Draco noticed it too and knew what it meant; he had worked with her enough to recognize that smile and her sugary sweet tone. He rolled his eyes when Waite fell for it.

"Of course Miss Granger. It is an ancient spell created on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year; the casters intent is to limit the amount of pheromones female veela release and prevent her from fighting the effects."

"What are the effects exactly?" she said in that sugary sweet tone, though Marius took note of the Malfoys sudden tension and watched the girl carefully.

"Well, it is noted some females feel 'hazy' and complained of having trouble clearing their heads, their magic was sometimes inaccurate, but they were able to function. There was no complaint by any husband regarding their mates."

Marius swore the temperature just dropped ten degrees.

"Have you ever performed the _Seven Spell_ on a male veela?" she asked keeping that same tone.

"Merlin NO!" he answered laughing.

She smiled too, though it held no mirth. She stood putting on her best 'I'm a silly female' face, "I'm feeling the need for some air, you understand, please excuse me."

"Of course, of course! Take as long as you like." He said

"Thank you." She said and walked out of the room.

Once outside she dialed, "Hello?"

"I need to know everything there is to know about a spell called the Seven Spell. If it's not dark magic its close. Pull out everything you can find. I'll be there within the hour."

"Yes ma'am." Pansy said and hung up.

Hermione's next call was to Sirius," 'Lo."

"Sirius, have you ever heard of the Seven Spell?"

"Yes, but its old and outlawed. It was used to keep women under control in the dark ages." He said.

"Do you have any books describing it?" she asked.

"Yes, you're welcome to them. When?" he asked.

"Within in the hour." She said and hung up.

She turned in time to see Draco walk out the door and blew a kiss at him before she disapperated with a POP!

He turned back around and walked inside smiling.

"Where is she?" Lucius asked.

"She disapperated just as I saw her. My guess is she made a few phone calls and will be finding out everything she can about this spell, then using it on someone here." He said smugly.

"She would use on someone here?" Marius asked incredulously.

"If she could prove a point she would. I don't _think_ she would cast it if she couldn't reverse it, but I'm not certain." Draco answered.

Marius sent a prayer to whoever was listening that Hermione Granger was unsuccessful in her search.

No one was listening.


	13. subtlety

Ten minutes later the door opened and Hermione Granger breezed in with a smile on her face. She gave a nod in acknowledgement as Marcus Waite continued to speak as she sat down next to her fiancé, his father and Marius Dragomir.

Marius gave her a smile.

Draco and Lucius stared at her with an expression that can only be described as intrigued suspicion.

Draco leaned in, "Don't you look like the cat who caught the canary." He said wondering what she had up her sleeve.

She arched a brow at him and smiled sweetly, but didn't respond.

Marius took a moment to look at her, something was off. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

A dark haired Veela was standing up arguing against bringing in Muggle officials and how female Veela would be more easily managed with the _Seven Spell_.

Lucius rolled his eyes, _here we go_ he thought.

"Excuse me, sir, but would you repeat that?" Hermione asked politely, but loud enough to be heard clearly.

"Of course, Miss Granger, in my opinion, requesting assistance from the muggle government will only increase the threat to our females. We can't possibly police the additional population when they are already fearful of our ways, and we would risk general exposure placing the entire wizarding world at risk." He finished.

"Yes sir. I agree with that, but I was referring to your additional statement." She specified; waiting.

He cleared his throat in hesitation, "I only meant that we could use the Seven Spell to protect our females better if they were more manageable."

She smiled and pointed at him in a casual stabbing manner, "Yes, that's the one. Tell me, sir, what do you _know_ about the Seven Spell, other than obvious?"

"It inhibits the pheromones that female Veela emit and prevents them from fighting it. That makes it easy on them, to accept it." He said.

Marcus spoke next before she opened her mouth to respond, "We have yet to hear from the House of Malfoy. What say you Lucius?" he asked genuinely curious.

All eyes were on the handsome aristocrat, "I agree that inviting muggle government into our world would create more problems than would solve. That said, I am uncertain of the negative impact on our female Veela when subjected to the Seven Spell. Mindless drones who can accurately cast a spell only half the time because they are unable to think straight is not my idea of a mate. I believe we should listen to Miss Granger, because if I am not mistaken – and I rarely am" he added in a haughty tone that only Lucius Malfoy could muster, "she has some information to bestow on us." He said looking at her for confirmation.

She nodded, stood and smiled to the room (_she was mildly surprised that her soon-to-be father-in-law could read her so well_), "Gentlemen, I beg your time and patience. The information I have you will undoubtedly find redundant with your current knowledge and some facts you might find interesting, but all of the information you will find applies directly to making an informed decision regarding how to protect the female Veela. Will you listen?" she asked the room.

Head nods and newly perked postures stared back at her as she moved to the center of the room and started speaking.

_*** __**Fifteen minutes ago…**_

"Hello?"

"I need to know everything there is to know about a spell called the _Seven Spell_. If it's not dark magic its close. Pull out everything you can find. I'll be there within the hour."

"Yes ma'am." Pansy said and hung up.

Hermione's next call was to Sirius," 'Lo."

"Sirius, have you ever heard of the Seven Spell?"

"Yes, but its old and outlawed. It was used to keep women under control in the dark ages." He said.

"Do you have any books describing it?" she asked.

"Yes, you're welcome to them. When?" he asked.

"Within in the hour." She said and hung up.

She turned in time to see Draco walk out the door and blew a kiss at him before she disapperated with a POP!

POP!

KNOCK! KNOCK!

She was tapping her foot waiting for him to answer the door. A moment passed and she heard the familiar locks and grumbling. He cracked the door then opened it fully, "Come in, I will be right back." He said and left her standing in the small foyer while he practically ran into the kitchen to drink down his potion.

She closed the door.

"Sit. Tell me." he said in his gravelly voice.

"What do you know about the _Seven Spell_?" she asked him

He was making tea for them, but at her mention he turned to look at her though his expression gave none of his feelings away, the fact that he diverted attention from something he was doing spoke volumes of his surprise.

Severus tended to give the thing he was working on his all, whether it be making tea or making draught of living death.

"I know that it is a barbaric spell used in the dark and middle ages to control... mostly witches. The Americans used it during the Salem witch hunts to keep the towns women from banding together." He told her bringing two cups of steaming hot tea, "Why do you ask?"

"Veela females are endangered and the veela males are trying to come up with a solution to protect them ranging from calling in muggles to help protect the borders to imprisoning females within their families for ever. It's insane" she said frustrated.

"…and you're here because you want to show them exactly what happens, correct? Give them a little dose of their own medicine?" He was always so perceptive. It was annoying.

"Yes, but I need to find out what the impacts and side effects were first as well as a reversal spell." She said and continued, "I have Pansy and Sirius working on this too, but I knew if anyone knew anything about it, you would be the one to talk to." She said the respect and adoration shone in her eyes.

He got up and gave two more vials of potion to her, "Meet me at Blacks; I will be over in a moment. Give him his potion and tell him to find every book he has on _gravis animus_."

She nodded and walked through to Grimmauld Place calling for Sirius.

He walked around the corner smiling but when he saw her his face dropped, "uhhh" he said worried.

"I have yours and Remus' potion." She said smiling

He relaxed and took the potion from her careful not to touch his fingers to hers and she snorted when Remus popped his head from behind Sirius when he handed the small vial back.

Click. Whoosh. Severus stepped through,"Do we have the books?"

"No, they just took the potion." She answered.

Severus huffed and waited, "How much time do you have exactly?"

"No longer than 24 hours, then I must go back."

"Won't the meeting be over by then?" Remus asked.

"Well maybe you should sit and let me explain before we go into this whole seven spell thing – and I'll need a wizard's oath that you won't breathe a word to anyone without my approval."

Severus and Remus didn't like the sound of that, but agreed anyway and Sirius just liked a good story and this one sounded like it was going to be good.

Oath completed.

"Back in my third year Professor McGonagall petitioned for me to receive and use a time turner so that I could take extra classes." She said not knowing how much they knew already.

Severus knew, Remus didn't, "She did what?" he asked stunned.

Sirius just smiled, "cool."

She continued, "Well if you've ever used a time turner before they are quite…"

"Addicting?" Severus supplied flatly

"Ok, but not in the way traditional sense of the word; more like they are intriguing and rare and it's exciting just owning one." She clarified.

They nodded.

"Well amidst taking extra classes, rescuing hippogriffs and Azkaban escape's and saving Harry from werewolves, I cloned the time-turner." She ended hoping they wouldn't throw massive fit and report her.

They just stared, slack jawed.

It was Severus that found his speech, "Repeat that last bit."

"I cloned the time-turner." She repeated.

"…and it works?" Remus asked, but he already knew the answer – this was Hermione we were talking about.

She snickered, "Yes."

"How often do you go back?" Sirius asked – they all could hear the wheels turning.

"I don't. I went back once to test and haven't used it since." She said.

"Did someone help you clone it?" Severus asked.

She nodded uncertain if she wanted to answer, but since they were under a wizards oath, "Theo Nott."

Severus didn't say anything for a moment, "he was very bright. Quiet though. How did you two come together?"

"He put two and two together and confronted me one night in the library. It just sort of grew from there." She said.

"Does he have one too?" Remus asked

She shook her head sadly, "He was killed in the war, but we had only cloned one. We had talked about starting our own company. We wanted to create custom spells and curse breaking consulting firm."

"You were friends?" Severus asked.

"Yes."

"Ok so you are going to use the time turner to go back and share your discoveries with the Veela?" Sirius said

"Yes." She replied.

"What did you change?" Severus asked on instinct.

She looked at him sheepishly and then spoke quietly – they leaned in to hear her, "The Calling, the first time, you…came back, but you were not …alive. You fell from the veil, took a breath and died in my arms. I passed out and woke up to find Remus and Harry crying and yelling; neither of you would talk to me, it was… awful.

When I went back to my notes I found that I had made a mistake, one of the cuts I made was not at the precise time. I pulled out my time turner and went back to the beginning when I asked Severus for help." She finished with a heavy sigh avoiding their astonished gazes.

"You went through that twice?" Remus asked with the tone of a man who had just witnessed a miracle beyond his imagination.

"How did you do that? There would have been two of you performing the ritual at the same time and place?" Sirius asked equally stunned but able to put a coherent thought together.

She shook her head, "Time…it started over when I went back. I spent months finding the right spell to ensure this. One night I pulled the time turner out and out cast the spell; I woke up in my bed back to the morning I asked Severus for help. And the rest… they say… is history." She said.

"You are truly an amazing talent, Hermione." Severus said with Remus nodding in agreement.

Sirius hugged her tightly, "Thank you Kitten." He said with a tone of genuine heartfelt thanks.

"You're welcome." She said suddenly feeling shy and humble.

After a moment of slightly awkward silence Severus inhaled and stood, "Well let's get started then."

The wizards got to work with the books and she called Pansy, "Pans."  
"Yes ma'am. I found a few things that were mildly disturbing. The psychological effect it had on these women were drastic; deep depression, lethargy, severe decrease in libido- which also contributed to low birth rates, and though, few and far between there were some documented inexplicable deaths regarding Veela females specifically.

My personal opinion is that since Veela are sexual creatures the decrease in libido negatively impacted their psyche, essentially, they died of a broken heart as if they had never bonded with a mate." Pansy finished sadly.

"Pansy was there any documented complaints from male Veela?" Hermione asked

"None. Why?"

"As you said Veela are sexual beings, if their mates experienced a decrease in sexual appetite surely the males would have declined also… unless they disregarded their mates wishes and forced… the issue." She said startling realization making stomach turn.

Pansy sighed, "I bet you're right. Women in every society have been considered weaker and treated as such, especially hundreds of years ago… Merlinspants! …and they want to do this again? Hermione, you must stop this, it's…"

"Barbaric?" Hermione answered.

"Yes."

"Ok well, I'm over at Grimmauld Place. I know you have 'the' date to get ready for, but would you stop by with the reference material?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, be there in a flash." CLICK.

She walked back into the library and shared the information with the three wizards. They looked disgusted, which put Hermione's mind at ease; not that she thought that they would agree, but it was nice to know the wizards she associated with, in fact considered close friends, felt similarly.

"I have found something about the physical side effects that interest me." Severus said raising his eyes to look at the very interested audience he now had.

"Documented are complaints of head ache, fuzzy logic, nausea, loss of appetite-both sexual and nutritional, and a general feeling of malaise. What does that sound like to you?" he asked.

They sat there for a moment before it dawned on both Remus and Hermione. They spoke together, "Hang over."

"Exactly." Severus said smiling. His smile was no longer atrocious. While Severus was lying unconscious under the care of Hermione and Poppy after his near death experience produced by a wicked snake and crazy tyrant, Hermione cast a spell similar to the one that fixed her teeth so long ago.

She never said she did it and he never asked, but they both knew. It was their little unacknowledged secret.

"Could it be that simple?" she asked.

Severus nodded his head.

"What?" Sirius asked lost in a sea of super scary smart people… and he was above average intelligence!

"Pepper up potion. What we give you when you can't function after a night of libations and debauchery." She said flatly.

Remus laughed.

Pansy popped in handing the material to her boss and took a few minutes to discuss some girl things with Hermione, like which dress she was wearing and if it were short enough and if it were the right color etc., and then she floo'd out with a skip in her step.

They spent the next two hours putting her speech together and brewing pepper up potion. They didn't have time to test it, but they were fairly certain it would work.

She had one more stop to make and then she would reenter the meeting.

"Good bye and thank you." She said, but was detained briefly by Severus.

He pulled her to the side for a quiet conversation, "If you are still interested in starting a custom spell and curse breaker consulting firm, I would be …interested in partnering." He said with an earnest, but slightly vulnerable expression.

Her face lit up, "I think that would be most satisfactory, Severus!" she said and walked out with a bounce in _her_ step. She knew there was no one better at creating spells than Severus Snape- the man was a master of all arts, with the exception of Lucius Malfoy… maybe she would speak to him about it too.

She apperated to the building where the Veela meeting was held and walked to the atrium that led to the House portraits. As she neared the heavy double doors and house elf popped up right in front of her, "Miss, those doors won't open unless you are a descendent or you have a descendent from the house lines with you."

"Thank you, I'll manage."

The little elf popped out.

She took a deep breath and opened the doors. The old magic washed over her making her skin tingle as she passed through.

They were slumbering, but when the sconces lit as she entered the portraits woke with mild hub bub… Hyperion, he grumbled a lot, "Girl, what are you doing back?" he snapped.

"I came to see Amalthea."  
she answered.

"Come here girl. You look as though something is brewing in that mind of yours." Pax called from the other side of the room.

She walked over and smiled at him, "yes sir. I need to know more about a spell called the Seven Spell." She told the imposing portrait.

"Useless piece of work, that spell." Abraxas answered with venom in his voice.

"Yes. Turned women into robots. Turned their husbands into rapists. Horrid." Hyperion added.

She was surprised by his remark; she almost thought it was right up his alley.

"You have no need to apply that spell girl. It's a dangerous and dark tree you are barking up." Pax scolded.

"Oh it's not something I would use. The Veela inside want to institute it to 'protect' female Veela from producing pheromones that attract potentially dangerous males." She said complete with air quotes.

"Was Lucius agreeing to this?" Abraxas fairly shouted in outrage

"No. but two of the houses are in agreement."

"Which?" Alecto asked. He had been much more vocal since yesterday.

"House of Waite and House of Devereaux." She answered.

Two snorts, a huff in indignation and an eyeroll from Alecto later, "Devereaux indeed, those cave men. They seem to provoke their mates into turning into harpies at every stop. One wonders what they teach their sons in the manner of ladies." Alexandros stated with a sneer.

She raised an eyebrow thinking that these Malfoy men continued to be a surprise, quite progressive in their thinking and complete gentlemen.

Even as she was getting tortured in his home, he was treated her respectfully. Of course, he didn't have a wand and was being held prisoner as well, but still, he could have been rude and wasn't.

She replied to Hyperion with a smile, "Yes he alluded to harpies earlier."

Pax sighed, "Go through that entry, girl, you'll find Amalthea and Bronwen waiting." He nodded in the general direction.

"Thank you." She said in parting.

The House of Waite was not nearly as dark as the Malfoy's, it had cream walls with flowered vases, that probably cost a fortune, and gilded chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The sconces were already alight when she walked in and looked around.

As she rounded the corner she came face to face with her twin. The silver plate read: Amalthea Waite nee Malfoy.

"Excuse me. Are you awake?" Hermione asked the portrait.

"Yes child. You are a daughter of my line?" she asked.

"Yes, one of magical abilities." Hermione answered.

"The curse is over then?" she asked hopefully

"Not yet, but soon. I just wanted to meet you as I don't know when I'll get another opportunity."

The portrait smiled, "Of course. You're beautiful, but you know that as we are mirrors of one another." The women said.

Hermione was getting an idea of why Alecto was annoyed with his sister- though, this wasn't nearly enough to cast a generations long curse.

"Why did Alecto curse you so harshly? He was so harsh." Hermione asked the blunt question.

"Subtlety, my dear, is lost on you." The woman said derisively.

"Amalthea! Don't be such a shrew." This was spoken from the woman beside her, Bronwen Malfoy nee Waite.

Amalthea rolled her eyes heavenward, "Oh mother." She said

Hermione wanted to laugh, it seemed mother daughter relationships managed to stay the same throughout time.

"Well tell her!" Bronwen snapped at her daughter.

Amalthea sighed, "You've met Alexandros no doubt?" she asked.

Hermione nodded her head.

"We were very close and Alecto was jealous." She said as if that answered the question.

"Amalthea." Bronwen threatened.

"What mother?! Will you order a house elf to pour paint thinner on my portrait? It would be relief. I can't imagine spending another century listening to your lectures on lady-like behavior!" Amalthea told her mother with exasperation in her voice.

"I can order a house elf to place you next to Alecto and you can spend the rest of the century listening to him." Bronwen countered.

Amalthea returned her gaze to Hermione, "We were _very_ close." She said with an eye brow raised.

"oh." Hermione said uncertain and then it dawned on her, "OOOHH!"

"Alecto caught us once. He didn't curse Alexandros as harshly because he believed men to be weak in nature. He blamed me for bending the will of Alexandros. Tempting him. Alecto holds witches to a higher moral standard, so in his eyes I was to blame." She spat.

"Well…ah…hmmm" Hermione didn't know what to say.

"My sentiments exactly!" Bronwen said.

"Did your father know?" Hermione asked.

"NO!" both women cried in unison, "and he doesn't need to know now." Amalthea threatened.

"Alright then. Thank you both for your… candor." Hermione said and watched as Amalthea yawned and Bronwen closed her eyes to sleep.

_Strange lot_. Hermione thought and exited the rooms.

She needed to find a dark corner to turn back time. She found one and turned the spindle twice. She faded away only to reappear ten minutes after she left.

Taking a deep breathe she walked in and sat down at her table.


	14. the solution

"Throughout the ages every race of people, both muggle and magical, have seen to protect their kinsmen… and women to the best of their ability. Choices were made by the stronger members that had, at times, a negative affect on the weaker ones. Such is the case regarding the Seven Spell.

Forgive my direct approach gentlemen for I fear that is what is necessary to convey the importance of my message.

The Seven Spell borders on dark magic." She said this with the knowledge that most in the room would not be keen on using any dark magic after the fall of the last dark lord.

"Though, it is not as …severe as the Imperious curse, the intent was similar – to control. To control groups of people into doing as their bid without a fight; without a say in what they do; to do the bidding of another.

The effects of the Seven Spell have been well documented and falls under the umbrella of _gravis__ animus: _Heavy Soul_._ Throughout history the Seven Spell was used in the Salem witch trials to control the towns women from assembling, the Crusades to prevent truth to ring out in outrage, the Veela have used it to control women from attracting non-Veela mates and diluting bloodlines." The last she intoned as gravely as she could to impress upon them a sense of moral indignation.

"Side effects from the Seven Spell are …subtle and accrue over time not eased. Deep depression, lethargy, severe decrease in libido- which also contributes to low birth rates and in some cases death." She paused looking around to see a mixture of expressions laid bare on the Veela males faces.

"Let's focus, briefly, on decreased libido. A seemingly benign symptom for most, but Veela are different – aren't we?" she added the 'we' part to insert herself into their closely held culture in the hopes that they would view what she told them as coming from someone who had a vested interested in a positive, practical and effective solution.

"We are sexual creatures, born with the ability reach out magically and attract those we would spend our lives with. This ability has also cost us the lives of our female Veela; however under the Seven Spell the magnetism is quelled. But I must point out that after we are bonded our attractiveness to someone other than our mates is almost non existent. We continue to be a source of peace, passion and partnership for our mates; we are no longer at risk from another.

The Seven Spell was thought to be irreversible, so the foggy mindedness of the spell remained, making your mates dull, inaccurate and without the desire to …lay with you.

What do you think this did to their male mates?" she paused again in order for them to connect the dots before she continued.

"It turned them in to rapists; forcing the female Veela to bend to their husbands will and sexual nature."

She was interrupted by Landers Devereaux, "Zees ez all well and goot, but wot ez your solution girl. We must control in order to protect. Zees ez the only way. We use the Zeven zpell!" he implored to the group, but it fell on somewhat deaf ears as most of the Veela present were still stuck on the 'rapist' part of her speech.

A question from Lucius Malfoy, "Miss Granger, why did the females die?" he asked genuinely curious as he had not ever heard of the Seven Spell resulting in death.

"I can only speculate sir, but we believe it had something to do with the Veelas sexual nature. If they are unable to exercise that innate desire a broken heart would plague them only contributing to their depression and eventually their will to live." She answered.

"Zat ez preposterous!" Landers yelled mocking her.

"Just as preposterous as a Veela dying from a broken heart because their mate died or dying because they hadn't ever found their mate." She countered.

Draco smiled.

Landers sat down with a huff.

"Our solution should not be control, but rather education. It is only a short time in our lives when we are at risk; teen aged Veela females are not nearly as focused upon nor are they in situations where they are left unattended for long periods. It isn't until we turn 21 years of age that we begin to attract …everyone; making our daily lives …cumbersome to say the least." She said with exasperation.

"Veela females are educated about the potency of their ability through their mothers or aunts and most of that education comes from personal experience. Why not teach our young ladies the importance of caution, expose them to other experiences, let them hear from male Veela; so that they may understand what is at stake.

Many cultures, both muggle and magical, have used chaperones for their ladies, and though the intent was to protect the virtue of the young women in question, Veela can use the chaperones as a method to reduce the risk, until such a time as the newer generations of females are educated enough to manage on their own." She inhaled after that rather long winded speech and smelled …power – raw and male. She felt light headed and her skin was tingling.

The next realization startled her a bit, the male Veela in the room (at least the unbonded) were helplessly turned on by her.

She groaned and looked over to her fiancé, who was flushed and looking like he wanted to eat her. She could make out his fangs peeking from under his lips.

She cast a mildly worried glance to Lucius and caught him in a rare moment looking a bit concerned as his nostrils flared slightly.

She met his gaze and she could swear the words _start wrapping it up_ sounded in her mind and the voice was Lucius Malfoy's.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Marcus Waite, "Thank you Miss Granger, but the Seven Spell is effective and doesn't invite trouble. I have not heard complaint from my own mate as she was spelled when she turned 21. So thank you for your… impassioned speech, but we must…" he didn't get to finish.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this Mr. Waite, but …" she raised her wand and spoke the incantation, "To be protected from you. This magic that I do; with these words I bind thee. To see the truth; to know the way; to be protected from harm. I now seal this charm with these words I bind thee."

The Veela had stood when she raised her wand, but didn't move as curiosity took over. She could have laughed.

Marcus Waite stood there a moment blinking. Then looked around the room. His movements were slow and his eyes were dull.

"Marcus?" Landers asked.

It took him a moment to answer, "Yes?"

"How are you feeling?"

A single tear traveled crookedly down his bearded cheek, "I don't know." He answered.

Landers turned to face Hermione, "You will see a trial girl and I will see you sent to Azkaban!" he shouted.

She didn't react right away, but after a moment she spoke, "No, you won't."

She pulled a vial from her person and walked to where Marcus now stood looking confused, "Drink this Mr. Waite. It will make you feel yourself." She said kindly.

He did and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts; when he raised his head to look at her his eyes blazed with both fury and understanding.

She met his stare levelly without fear.

It was with great determination in which she spoke these next words, "If you continue to entertain this barbaric solution, I will spend every moment of every waking hour lobbying against the legality of this Spell. I will change every ancient law allowing the control of women in the magical world by spell, charm or potion; and I will not rest until I see every last violator spending their days wasting away in Azkaban.

…and if you think, for one minute, that I will be unsuccessful – think. again." She said with one final look to her silent audience.

She inhaled, "Now if you'll excuse me." She said and walked out the double doors to take a walk.

***

She returned several hours later. It was dark and her arms were tired from carrying her bags. The foyer was empty so she walked to her room quietly wondering what had occurred after her hasty departure.

As she turned the corner she was met by Lucius, Draco, and Marius and Radu Dragomir. She stopped.

"Where have you been?" Draco all but shouted. She could see the relief etched on his face. She raised the bags she was holding and shrugged, "Shoe shopping." She said sheepishly, knowing that they knew that she knew after everything she had said about educating the young women in hopes of them understanding the danger; her actions were slightly irresponsible verging on hypocritical.

Lucius just smirked, he was reminded of Cissa and her form of 'shopping therapy' when she was troubled. He missed her and would need to return to her soon. She was his mate and he could never be parted from her for very long – the time in Azkaban had very nearly killed him.

"Well Miss Granger, the clans took a vote and your solution of education and chaperone for our females won, by a landslide. They will attend a 'finishing school' starting at 13 years and the chaperones will begin when they reach 21 years until such time as they choose a mate and are bonded. It is a solution we could not have come up with had we not had a female veela present. Thank you." He said with a bow.

"…Marcus is not thrilled, but even he voted in favor. Tell me Miss Granger, how did you reverse the spell?" Radu asked.

She smiled, "I am not ready to share my secret just yet. Though, Mr. Waite did owl me while I was out… trying on the cutest pink pumps, requesting the reversal for his wife." She said smugly.

The wizards looking at her were speechless at Marcus' request.

Radu and Marius smiled at her after a moment, "Good night Miss Granger."

They walked away leaving her alone with Draco and Lucius, "Severus is inside. He was …interested in how everything turned out." Lucius said clearly enjoying the idea of Severus being so …eager.

"I'll just put my purchases away and come back then."

"I'll walk you." Draco said.

Lucius walked inside to the pacing Severus Snape.

***

Draco didn't say anything until she had opened her door and they both stepped inside. He had her up against the wall in heat filled kiss the moment the door clicked shut.

She had no objection, her bags dropped to the floor and her hands enthusiastically wound their way into his silken hair.

He bent down without removing his lips from hers and hooked his fingers under her knee pulling her leg high on his hip. He ground his erection into her core and she moaned.

"Gods I want you so bad!" he whispered only ending the kiss on her mouth to trail wet kisses down her neck.

She circled her hips and he pulled her tighter, "yesssss." He hissed.

Suddenly a patronus in the form of an eagle came fluttering through the door, "Miss Granger, we are waiting." It said in Lucius Malfoy's amused tone.

Draco was panting and dropped his forehead onto hers softly, "This gets harder and harder. Please don't make me wait for a year to marry you. I don't think I'll survive." He said desperately.

She giggled, "Only a year. Don't weddings of the century take two years to plan?" she teased.

"Minx." He said straightening his clothes first then hers. They made their way back and knocked.

Severus turned… a little too quickly, but regained composure immediately, "Well?" he asked.

"It worked."

He nodded.

"I would like to know what is going on. There is no way Hermione had time enough to put all this together. Did you know before hand?" Lucius asked.

She looked at Severus and then back to Lucius, "I need a wizards oath."

Lucius looked at Severus. Severus nodded almost imperceptively.

"alright." He said as Draco and Lucius submitted to the oath required to know what the hell was going on.

"Back in my third year Professor McGonagall petitioned for me to receive and use a time turner so that I could take extra classes."

They nodded.

"Well amidst taking extra classes, rescuing hippogriffs and Azkaban escape's and saving Harry from werewolves, I cloned the time-turner."

They just stared back at her, similar to Sirius, Remus and Severus did.

"Theo Nott and I forged an unlikely friendship after he confronted me about it."

"You were friends?" Draco asked surprised, "In school?"

"Yes."

"Yes." She replied.

"So you used it today? Do you use it often?" Lucius asked the tension in his voice unmistakable.

"No. I've used it twice, once today and once another time a long time ago." She said with finality.

Severus understood her reluctance to bear all.

"I see." Lucius said. Draco remained silent.

They were making her nervous.

"Are… are you going to report me?" she asked quietly.

Their expressions went from contemplative to shock, "Are you daft?" Draco asked.

Before she could answer, "No Miss Granger, we aren't going to report you. We just … so many things have happened it is difficult not to want to go back and change it all." He said simply.

She nodded her understanding, she had lost so many friends it had taken every ounce of will power she had not to go back and do that very thing.

They recovered, "So you did research came up with a solution and came back." Draco summarized.

She nodded, "I also propositioned Severus."

"Pardon?" Lucius asked.

"I want to start a consulting firm. Custom spells and cursebreaking. I would like him for a partner… and you two if you're interested. I don't know anyone better than spells and curses than you three. If you aren't interested I understand, but if you are…" she let the thought trail off then spoke again excitedly, "You don't have to answer now. You could wait, or even you could see my business plan." They smirked, of course she had a business plan.

"I don't need any money, I have enough to start. I have some clients already interested and I could let you see…"

"Miss Granger, you're babbling." Severus said with mirth in his eyes.

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"I'm in." Draco said watching her eyes light up. She unexpectedly jumped into his arms.

He caught her with no trouble, she was weightless to him… or close to it, but aside from that, he loved how her body felt against his.

"If you're quite finished." Lucius said

"I would be interested in being a silent partner. I would like to participate on the tasks that you can't work out on your own or need another point of view. I would like to offer financial assistance." He held up a hand to stay her comment, "I know you have money, but I've started many businesses and know that things have a way of adding up, so let me help you. If your Gryffindor pride disallows your acceptance based on altruistic offering, consider it a wedding gift." He finished.

She smiled and detached herself from Draco's lap to hug her soon to be father in law, "Thank you." She said and as he hugged her back, "You're welcome."

An owl tapped on the window.

"Hermione." Severus said after giving the owl a treat and watching it fly away.

She read the parchment, "Oh wow."

"What?" Draco asked curious after seeing the Veela clans' seal.

"They want me to put together a curriculum for young veela women. They also want my input on what qualities are sought in a chaperone."

Severus smiled at her, he was proud of her and was honored she was his friend.

"Well now that you've solved the Veela problem, discovered the cure for the Seven Spell, been solicited for Veela education and found some partners and financial backing for your company – what's next?" Draco asked.

"Well, Severus discovered the cure, so he will get credit for that. I will also be decorating his home as per our agreement." Severus smirked in memory, but nodded.

"I guess the next big thing is getting together with your mother and planning our wedding." She said casually.

This time Draco jumped up and hugged her.

Lucius cleared his throat, "I must be getting back to my Cissa. My heart is heavy without her." He told them.

There was no shame in his words, only longing for his mate.

He stood bid goodnight and floo'd home. Severus followed.

She looked at her fiancé, "You're are so beautiful Draco." She said awed at his fine, masculine features, silky hair and stormy grey eyes.

Her eyes roamed down his neck to his broad shoulders, muscular chest-visible through the shirt he was wearing, muscled and veined arms, and large masculine hands… the list went on and one.

She looked up to see his fangs out and his face flushed, "Hermione… you must go now. I can't…"

She nodded and moved for the door. She looked back at him and left.

Once gone he placed his forehead on the door and his hand on the door jams, "I love you." He whispered.

***

It was the middle of the night. She woke with a start – her heart was pounding, she was sweating and her entire being was aching with need. She could hear a pulse, rhythmic and low, it vibrated throughout her body.

They were calling for her…


	15. Are you ok with this?

She could hear them… the murmur, the chanting; baritone voices calling for her. The pulse felt like a heartbeat set in time with her own. It pervaded every cell in her body, driving her to stand.

Her thin white night gown clung to her sweat soaked body, her hair heavy with perspiration so that it hung down her back the ends reaching the curve of her bottom like little fingers tickling the sensitive skin.

She reached for the door knob, but paused, the pulse grew stronger and her ache between her legs made her sigh pushing her body forward turning the knob.

The hallway was dark, the air warm. She couldn't see anything, but moved forward anyway like she was being pulled by an invisible tie that knotted around her waist.

She realized belatedly that she was panting and her fangs were present making her run her tongue over them again and again. She did this subconsciously, not understanding why, but it was a calming gesture… or maybe just a security quirk, something that empowered her – she didn't know.

The air was getting warmer the farther down the hall she walked. The pulse was stronger, the chants were louder. She felt excitement, need, and… fear? Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this was all wrong. Her inner voice normally so strong was barely heard above the pulse _Don't do this. Don't do this_. It said.

…but the ache, the need drew her like a bear to honey.

Suddenly she was standing in front of large wooden double doors – she didn't remember these, not on this floor… the little voice grew louder: _They weren't here before! Don't go in!_

Again she ignored the plea and the doors seemed to open of their own accord. She stepped through allowing the hot air to wash over her already sweating body.

She walked to the middle of the room amidst cloaked figures. They were chanting and watching her. She felt drawn to them, but at the same time her mind flashed platinum hair, grey eyes, Malfoy smirk.

She turned and met the eyes of Landers Devereaux. She stared at him silently for a moment; absorbing his presence. He was once a beautiful man, she thought, but he had grown old before his time; his skin wrinkled and leathery resultant from years of abuse.

He smiled and beckoned her to come forward.

She did without hesitation.

***

Draco woke up when his mind screamed at him that something was wrong. He looked around drowsily and decided that _he_ wasn't in imminent danger, but his mind wouldn't be silenced.

It was hot.

He felt like yelling and… shagging. Well that wasn't knew – that last part, lately he felt like shagging a lot!

This didn't feel the same. This felt like…

"Hermione." He whispered and scrambled out of bed.

***

He stepped to the side once she was standing in front of him. He motioned with his hand guiding her vision to the stone altar behind him.

The pulse was driving her mad with need. A bead of sweat rolled in between her breasts and Landers licked his lips.

She walked slowly to the stone altar and touched the top with the flats of her hands. The stone was cool to the touch. She bent over to feel the coolness on her body – she was so hot.

She stood after a moment of panting and turned to face the group of cloaked figures chanting and murmuring.

Landers looked at an unknown man behind her and smiled. He stepped back as the other approached.

She could smell him, _like an ocean breeze_ she thought.

His breath gave away his position, right behind her and she made to turn her head, but he stopped her gently and ran his tongue alone her shoulder.

She sighed.

His arms wrapped around her waist, one hand splayed across her flat stomach while the other brushed against the side of her breast.

She moaned and closed her eyes.

He moved his hands downward to the hem of her nightgown dragging it up her bare legs.

She pressed herself into his erection and he inhaled.

He hands stopped when they reached the apex of her thighs, she wore no panties, so his fingers skimmed over her glistening opening; her swollen bud peeking out.

She cried out at the pleasure that small touch provoked.

"Lie down." he instructed his voice barely a whisper.

She did as she was told and climbed onto the stone altar lying on her back.

The hooded figure stepped closer to her touching her body softly making her whimper with need, "beautiful." He said.

He moved to disrobe, but she heard a loud sound.

BANG BANG BANG! HERMIONE!

Hermione thought it odd that the man didn't react to the banging. She heard again.

BANG BANG BANG! HERMIONE! OPEN THE DOOR!

She knew that voice….

"shhhhhh. Just relax." The dark man said as he climbed over her nude, parting her thighs with his knees.

HERMIONE PLEASE!

"Draco?" she said

The dark man stopped.

She cleared her throat, "Draco." She called louder.

BANG BANG BANG!

She sat up, breathing heavy and looking around.

Her room; no dark figure; no men chanting; no stone altar.

She wanted to cry.

HERMIONE!

She got out of bed and opened the door. He rushed in-her beloved- and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're ok now." He said rubbing a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

"I don't understand." She said shaking her head.

"They were calling you, Hermione. It's an old Veela mating ritual. Do you know who?" He asked.

"Landers and someone else. A man that smelled like an ocean breeze. He was going to… he was…" she was trying to speak the words but they wouldn't come.

"Ok, I know." He hugged her tighter and she hugged him back.

"I don't want to be alone, Draco." She said

He could feel her breast press against his chest and her breath on his skin.

"I stay on the chair." He said not looking forward to it, but he didn't have the will power to sleep with her in his arms and not take her.

"No Draco, I need you." She said. Her voice had dropped an octave, her eyes were glowing and her fangs were being dragged across his nipple.

His head dropped back and moaned, "Hermione.. please. I can't be strong for both of us, I need you to stop…"

She suckled gently and feathered her fingers down the sides of his abdomen to the band of his pajama bottoms.

"Let me please you, Draco." She whispered, dropping to her knees and pulling his pants down with her.

His cock jumped free of its confines and he sighed at the release.

She blew on the tip and very lightly wrapped her small hands around the base.

He jerked into her hands involuntarily.

She kissed the tip of his penis and licked the pre-cum away relishing in her power. She pumped once then moved one of her hands to caress his inner thighs, moving upwards to cup his balls.

He hissed, "Don't tease, Mya."

She opened her mouth and took his length in making his hands take a fistful of her hair. His grip wasn't hurting her; they were strong enough to guide her head without being aggressive.

She found it extremely sensual.

He wasn't going to last and he was just about to stop her when she stood and looked at him.

"I want to mark you, Draco." She said in the same low tone and whisper, "I want to make you mine."

She ran the tip of her finger up his length and leaned forward to kiss his chest.

She looked at him again and he nodded. He couldn't speak, but he nodded. His eyes were silver vapor and his fists were clenched.

He lay on the bed and she followed hovering over top of him like an angel with glowing golden eyes.

She kissed him softly at each corner of his mouth. He tried to kiss her back and she pulled up, "ah ah ah" she said wagging her finger back and forth.

He settled back down and she licked her way down his neck and dragged her teeth over his sensitive nipple.

She continued her pursuit of his body down ward to his belly button where her tongue dipped and played causing him to pant and clench and unclench his fists.

Lower still, her fingers made feathery trails to his inner thighs as they encouraged him to part his muscled legs.

He did.

She licked his penis from base to head and licked away the pre-cum that had leaked again. He moaned, "Please…." He pleaded.

She took his member into her mouth while massaging his balls. Up and down slowly making him arch his back and meet her rhythm.

"Mya – I'm going to …"

She felt him spurting his warm liquid into her mouth; and right as he was settling down, before the entirety of his orgasm faded away; she bared her teeth and marked him.

He cried out in pain and ecstasy.

She bit him on his upper, inner thigh; drinking his blood she felt calm and whole. She could feel his magic flow within her. She licked his wound until it healed forming a scar that only they would recognize as her mark.

***

At that moment Lucius sat up in bed startled.

"What's wrong, Lucius?" Cissa asked immediately aware of her mates movements.

"It's Draco. She marked him." he said a little surprised.

"How do you know?" Cissa asked.

"The bond I had with him is broken. Like a rubberband it snapped. He is now bonded with her." He said not knowing how he felt about it. He already missed it, but knew that nature had to take its course.

He lay back down molding himself to his wife and kissing her shoulder. They went back to sleep.

***

His eyes were still silver vapor, but he felt at ease. He watched her lick his mark and slowly sat up to pick night gown up and drag it over her head.

She did nothing to stop him.

He threw it somewhere and returned his gaze to her.

She was there, sitting on her knees in between his legs; her back straight, her hair resting on her shoulders and falling down her back, her hands on her thighs watching him with glowing amber eyes.

Her lips were swollen and her cheeks flushed – she was beautiful.

He reached out tentatively and pulled her closer; he had to feel her against him.

"Draco, we shouldn't…"

"We should." He said his tone not allowing for an argument.

Her head rested on his chest while his hands explored her body, the curve of her back the swing of her hips, the round planes of her bottom.

He slid his large hands over her round globes – his thumbs sliding in between each cheek ghosting over the taboo area making her moan softly and circle her hips.

He smirked – though she didn't see.

He brought his hands back to her shoulders and turned her around so that she was lying on her back and he was looking down at her; he kissed her. Pushing his tongue inside her mouth and coaxing hers out. He sucked gently on her tongue and nipped at her bottom lip.

He trailed wet kisses down her neck to her collar bone arriving at her nipple.

He suckled briefly then pulled up to look at her breasts, "Perfect." He mumbled and bent back down to suckle.

She arched her back and pressed his head closer. He sucked, licked and nibbled on each nipple while he cupped and lightly pinched the other.

By the time he was done with her breasts for the time being and moving lower she was writhing in pleasure beneath him.

He could smell her arousal, it was potent and heady and the closer he got to her center the more his mind clouded with feeling for her.

He spread her legs apart gently and licked her nether lips.

She bucked and inhaled sharply.

He held her thighs apart and licked, sucked and nipped. He swallowed every drop of her sweet nectar as she came crying out his name.

He crawled back up kissing his way to her lips, stopping to suck her nipples.

He watched her until she opened her eyes.

She saw the question and gave him her answer, "yes." she whispered and pulled him down for an open mouthed kiss.

He pushed forward breaking the thin membrane.

She yelped, but it was caught by the force of his kiss. He was barely holding on. He even had to stop moving his tongue as it was directly affecting his ability to stay still while she adjusted to his size.

After a little bit he couldn't take it anymore so he moved very slowly. He heard her gasp and then felt her hips rise to meet his next movement.

He pulled out, groaning and pushed back in slowly not wanting to hurt her.

She spread her legs a little more to accommodate his large frame and giving him better access. He moaned and pulled out again pushing forward more forcefully making her hiss, "yess." And arch.

He kissed her and kissed her the whole time pulling out and pushing in slowly. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he moaned in pleasure. He tightened his grip around her waist and deepened an already deep kiss.

She felt consumed by him, it was both exhilarating and fulfilling.

He thrusts were growing erratic and sped up.

"Yes, yes Draco!" she called. She could feel the pressure for another climax in her and squeezed her legs tighter.

Once, twice more and she yelled his name letting shocking satisfaction wash over her then she stiffened and cried out in pain.

***

Draco was panting, he wasn't going to last much longer, but he needed her to go first. When he felt her walls tighten around him, she cried out.

He moved his lips to her breasts, positioning himself atop her heart and marked her. Drinking her blood and licking her wound made her magic reach out to him in physical demonstration. He watched as her magic came pouring out of her in a wave, washing over him and back into her.

The bonding was complete and he came in the next instant.

He collapsed to the side of her, not letting her go he kissed her temple and cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too, but I want to go home now. I don't want to stay here." She said softly peering up at him through her thick lashes.

He nodded and pulled her up with him, "then let's go home." He said casting a cleansing spell on both of them.

He waited while she packed her stuff and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, "Draco?"

He raised his eyebrows as he was already watching her, "You're ok with this right?" she asked timidly as the insecurity bug bit her unexpectedly.

He gave her a small smile and his eyes glowed briefly, "Yes. I'm more than 'ok' with it, love. No one will ever part us." He told her gathering her bags of new shoes and taking her free hand.

He packed and they floo'd to Malfoy Manor.

"You'll stay with me." he said softly, it was not a question.

She followed dutifully… happily.

They stripped and got into bed. She snuggled close to him and he pulled her tight so his face was nestled closely to the nape of her neck and hair.

Purring… they both closed their eyes and fell right to sleep.

(**A/N:** next the wedding, her friends and the company and an epilogue. So just two more chapters.)


	16. arthritis you see

They woke with Lolly pulling the heavy drapery aside to let the sunlight shine through the large window.

"Lolly… pleeeeeaase" Draco whined shielding the unwelcome light with his hand.

Hermione just groaned and burrowed further into his chest.

"No young mister, sunlight is good for the soul and …."

"I know I know… my soul needs sunlight with everything I've been through." He mumbled.

Hermione giggled softly.

The little harrumphed, "Mistress and Master Malfoy will be taking breakfast soon and bid you join them." She scolded.

"Were you torturing them too?" Draco asked.

"No mister that is Pippa's job." With that she popped away.

Hermione was giggling now.

"You think that's funny, do you? Well, how bout this?" Draco asked as he started tickling her ruthlessly.

She started screaming, "DRACO STOP!"

He didn't.

It wasn't until tears streaked her face that he let up and bounced out of bed to the shower.

After both had showered and dressed, much to Draco's chagrin – he was hoping for another round before breakfast – they made their way hand in hand to breakfast.

Narcissa stood immediately and engulfed Hermione in a hug, "Oh I'm so happy. This is just splendid." She gushed.

Hermione smiled and returned the hug, "I think so too. Will you help me plan?" she asked knowing she didn't have to but wanted Narcissa to know she welcomed the help.

Lucius rolled his eyes and his wife squealed in delight, "Of course silly girl. I would be honored. We'll need to contact the Daily Prophet society pages to announce the engagement and the Quibbler. You're friend, the odd girl, owns it now, yes?"

"Luna Lovegood. Yes, I can send her an owl if you write the announcement." Hermione said establishing a partnership.

"No running this morning?" Lucius asked taking a sip of his tea.

Draco snickered, "No, she's still sore from when you tried to kill her the other day."

Lucius smiled.

Narcissa looked aghast, "You didn't tell her?" she asked.

The Malfoy men shook their heads still smiling.

Hermione was smiling too, "yes about that, I am sore, but I did enjoy it. Would you consider it an imposition if I joined you once per week?" she asked.

Lucius was a bit surprised and Draco groaned, "Of course dear girl. It would be my pleasure." He said turning to give his son a smug look.

"Mrs. Malfoy I need to tell the Weasleys before we send the announcements. I don't want them to read it in the paper first. They practically raised me." Hermione asked.

"Yes of course, it would be rude not to."

Draco called Lolly, "Yes mister."

"Would you bring Miss Granger a parchment and scroll and then send it where she instructs?"

"yes mister."

A half a second later Lolly popped in and handed the writing tools to Hermione. She quickly scratched out her message and sent it with Lolly.

A half hour later Lolly popped back in with a return message. Hermione read it and smiled, "I'll go see them today."

Draco stiffened, "You're going alone?" he asked

She looked at him steadily, "Yes." She answered.

Lucius was hiding his smirk from behind his tea cup and Narcissa was busy picking invisible lint from her skirt.

After a tense pause in which Draco was remembering the last time he tried to tell Hermione she couldn't go somewhere he answered, "You'll be careful and if you need anything you'll apperate right back here?" he asked firmly

She smiled, "of course." she said and squeezed his hand.

Narcissa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and they continued to enjoy their breakfast.

"So have you decided on the day?" Lucius asked.

Hermione looked at Draco and he shrugged as if to say 'your decision'.

"The first day of Fall, September 21." She said.

"Three months away, Merlin we have much to do." Narcissa said.

"Will you have it here? In the gardens would be lovely." She added.

"I like that idea. Thank you." Hermione said getting excited.

Narcissa was going to ask another question when Lucius stood, "As stimulating as this conversation is and will be, I must take my leave. Draco will you be joining me, I believe I could use your counsel on… something." Lucius finished practically running out of the dining room.

Draco stood so quickly his chair almost tipped over, but he caught it in time and nodded at his mother and fiancée, "Ladies." He said as he exited just as quickly as his father had before him.

This reaction from the Malfoy men had Narcissa and her new charge laughing at their antics.

"What colors were you thinking then?" Narcissa asked.

Hermione looked dumbfounded and after a minute found her tongue, "I don't know. I hadn't given it much thought."

Narcissa nodded and clucked her tongue, "Well what's your favorite color?" she asked.

"Purple." Hermione replied hoping that purple wasn't some pureblood taboo color.

Her fears were put to rest a moment later Narcissa smiled, "That's perfect for a fall wedding. You'll wear white of course…"

"Ummm, maybe Ivory would be more… fitting … now." Hermione said shyly.

Narcissa laughed, "Oh Pish, you'll wear white!"

The next hour proved to be daunting and Hermione had thought more than once during this time that she would never think another unkind thought about Severus' attention to detail and direct approach to tasking. Narcissa Malfoy obviously taught Severus everything he knew!

By the end of the hour, the entire wedding was laid out in outline and they would take the next couple months going over and implementing the details. Hermione was starting to like the idea of eloping.

She stood as Narcissa did, "Hermione, don't you let them be mean to you and if you need just send me your patronus, I'll be there in a flash."

"Yes ma'am. I will, but I'm sure it will be fine." Hermione said and walked outside to the apparition point.

Well, It wasn't fine.

Molly began with outrage and finished with guilt trip galore.

'Marrying a Malfoy!'

'…disgrace.'

'…ungrateful…'

'what about Ronnie?'

'We practically raised you.'

'They'll never accept you…'

'gold digger' (_the gold digger comment came from Ginny, but Molly didn't object._)

'…never belong.'

On and on it went, she was slyly insulted by Ginny and Molly regarding everything from her previously unruly hair to her now silky hair to her muggle raising to her Veela roots.

It took everything she had not to sob as they mercilessly ripped her heart to shreds and after it was all over Arthur came in and 'suggested' she leave.

She should have just left, but pride kept her in place rooted to the seat she was sitting in, it was humiliating.

Rejection was never easy to deal with, but rejection coming from people she cared about was almost unbearable.

She apperated away with a heavy heart and found herself in muggle London in front of a movie theater. She walked inside and purchased one ticket to see P.S. I love you with Gerard Butler.

***

Draco was pacing, he could feel how sad she was and he was worried when she hadn't come home…. Home. This was her home now, Malfoy Manor.

"Draco do stop pacing, you'll wear a path in the carpet." His mother quipped.

"But mother, I can feel her. It's suffocating, how can she be alone?" he asked

"Leave her be Draco." Lucius advised.

The day just got worse for him.

***

After the movie, which had her crying even more, she started walking. It was nice out and she wasn't ready to go back yet.

After a while she found herself staring at her childhood home. Standing in the street staring at the house wishing her parents were alive. She didn't know for how long she stood there, but she was surprised when she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to face her old babysitter.

"Are you alright, child?" the little woman asked.

"Yes thank you."

"I knew the folks who used to live here, such lovely people." She said.

"Yes. I bet they were." Hermione answered playing dumb.

"My name is Elizabeth Rollins, my husband Edgar is inside – he doesn't get out much anymore, the arthritis you see." She said in a whisper as if her husband could hear her across the street.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Rollins." Hermione said.

"Yes the couple that lived here were so nice. They had a little girl. I bet she'd be about your age. Anyway, I remember Jane – she was the lady of the house, you see – was just sparkling. Men adored her, she had suitors coming and going all the time. She was always polite to them; kindly telling them to bugger off, but they didn't stop coming.

It took her husband to shoo them off." Mrs. Rollins chuckled in memory and Hermione smiled at the woman, but inside she wanted to cry.

"The little girl was accepted into a boarding school for the gifted. Sharp as a tack, that one. I used to babysit her, you see. Her parents were killed some years later and I haven't seen that darling girl since.

Next thing I know the house was boarded up and no one has lived their since."

Silence hung in the air until Hermione spoke, "I should go. Thank you Mrs. Rollins."

"For what my dear?" she asked.

"For talking to me." Hermione answered simply and turned to walk away.

As she walked farther she heard the old woman call to her, "Child!"

Hermione turned, "Yes ma'am?"

Mrs. Rollins gave her a knowing smile, "I like what you've done to your hair." And with that the woman walked inside leaving a stunned and sobbing Hermione to apperate back to Malfoy Manor.

***

Draco was still pacing when he felt the wards shift.

Lucius frowned, "Black and Lupin." He said curious.

Pippa lead the duo inside to the study just as Severus floo'd in; Narcissa stood, "to what do we owe the pleasure of … your visit?"

Remus spoke first, "It's Hermione. Sirius can feel her, she's …."

"Sad." Draco finished.

"Yes." Sirius confirmed.

All eyes turned to Severus, "Potter owled me asking if I knew where she was; after, I'm guessing, Black mentioned the crushing weight of her sadness?"

Sirius nodded and clutched his chest.

Draco was in a similar state.

"What is she doing?" Remus asked the group.

"We're getting married and she went to tell the Weasleys in person. 'they practically raised her' so she wanted to make sure they found out from her." Draco responded using her words.

"We heard. Molly floo'd us and Ginny…" Sirius said the last with an unpleasant expression on his face similar to if he had smelled some nefarious odor drifting his way, "she wouldn't stop ranting in the background."

"I thought you all were best friends forever." Severus said batting his eyelashes and raising his voice an octave when he said the last three words.

Remus sneered a little (he didn't do it often so it looked completely out of place on his features), "We realized some time ago that Molly is a bit …dramatic and passed that trait onto her morally ambiguous daughter."

"Morally ambiguous?" Lucius inquired at the strange description.

"She's a whore. Morally ambiguous is just Remus' nice way of insulting the bint." Sirius clarified.

This brought a laugh from both Malfoy men and Severus; Narcissa just sniffed her nose and left the men to gossip like hens.

"Pippa."

"Yes mistress."

"Let me know exactly when Hermione gets here."

"Yes mistress."

***

Hermione walked slowly up the path leading to the front door of the Manor. She couldn't go in just yet so she sat on the step sniffling.

POP!

"Miss?" Lolly asked with her ears plastered to her head.

"Hi Lolly."

"They is waiting missy Granger."

Hermione nodded, "I know. Lolly, I'm sure my eyes are puffy and red and my skin is blotchy, can you do something about that?"

Lolly waved her hand over Hermione and all physical traces of the emotional turmoil were gone.

"Thanks Lolly."

"Yes missy Granger." POP!

***

"Why isn't she coming inside?" Draco whined.

"She doesn't like crying in front of people… in fact she hates it." Remus informed them.

"…but she's a girl. Don't they all cry?" Draco asked.

The reaction he got frightened him, every man in the room, including his father, scowled at him in anger. Followed by a smack to the back of his by Severus.

They heard the door open and shut followed by soft footsteps that seem to tip toe nearing their room.

"We know you're back." Severus called.

They heard her sigh and she turned the corner facing them with a smile, "Hello gentlemen." She said folding her hands in front of her, then lowering them cause she thought her pose was too belligerent then putting them behind her back only to decide it was too casual ending with them stuffed in her pockets.

"If you done fidgeting." Sirius this time with a smirk.

"We know you know we know so will you be sharing or are you just going to stand there acting like everything is hunky dory?" Remus snapped. He couldn't fix it if he didn't know what's wrong.

She smiled at them, one of her you-needn't-worry-'bout-little-ole-me smiles, "I took a walk and ended up at my parents' home. Silly, I know, but my old baby sitter and I waxed nostalgia for a time and it just made me miss them."

None of them believed that that was the sole reason for her melancholy, but she obviously didn't want to talk about so they wouldn't press.

"I hear a bath tub and some wine calling me. Good night." She said and left

"Wine? I don't think I've ever seen her drink anything strong than a butter beer, even at dinner she had water." Draco told them

Remus and Sirius sighed, "The last time we saw her drink, she got rip roaring drunk. Her parents had died the day before."

Sirius snorted at the memory, "She went around to every one of 'her' boys and ticked off positive traits, telling us how much she loved us and how she would protect us until her dying day. We were all flattered to say the least."

The floo'd out one by one and Draco went to bed to check on her.

She was sound asleep having drunk a half a glass of wine. He stopped the bottle, disrobed and climbed into bed pulling her close.

"I love you sweet angel." He said and closed his eyes.

***

After Narcissa was informed of Hermione's arrival she waited for the girl by her room.

"Hermione, are you alright?" she asked.

"I will be. I just expected them to be happy for me, you know? Why do they need to insult me and make me feel like I owe them?" sob sob hiccup.

Narcissa ran the bath for her and helped the sobbing girl take off her clothes and step in the bath.

Narcissa looked at her scars again and grimaced, she had been through so much.

"Sometimes it takes time for new ideas to sink in, people need to feel comfortable with what is going on, especially old pureblood families." She teased Hermione.

"I went to my parents' house too. I think I may sell it. Maybe someone can make happy memories in it."

Narcissa nodded, "That would be nice of you. I'm sure it's a lovely home and Lucius will help you."

"Will you come see it with me? The inside I mean?"

"Yes, I would love to. Now relax."

When Narcissa was finished washing the young girls hair and massaging her temples Hermione's eyelids were drooping.

She fell into bed into dreamland.

***

She woke up some time later to find the room dark and Draco sleeping soundly next to her. She slowly untangled herself from his warm embrace and looked around for something to put on.

His white button down dress shirt was thrown over the chair so she quickly put that on, not wanting to rummage in the closet and buttoned it up.

It fell to her knees and the sides came to mid thigh. She rolled up the arms to her forearms and walked to the study for a glass of something other than water.

Two hours later she was on third glass of firewhiskey sitting in front of the fire on a soft furry rug – she named it Ed – contemplating her life.

She just about jumped out her skin when two masculine throats cleared letting her know they were there, "OH!" She stood quickly almost toppling over.

"I'm sorry.. I just…. I hope you don't mind." She stammered then she gave Severus a toothy grin, "Hi Severus!"

Both men snorted, "Hi Hermione." Severus greeted back to her.

"Would you like some?" she asked looking at both men.

"Yes that would be nice." Lucius said meaning to pour him and Severus a glass, but Hermione beat him to the bar.

She poured them both a glass and handed it to them albeit a bit unsteadily, but managed to get it to them without spilling it all over the place.

She also refilled her tumbler.

She plopped down cross legged making sure all her parts were covered.

"Does Draco know you are down here?" Lucius asked

"No, he's sleeping." She said in a stage whisper with a finger over her mouth.

They drank in silence for a while before Hermione spoke, "She called me ungrateful." She said, "_ME_! Ungrateful. HA!" she shook her head disjointedly and took another swig of her drink, "I mean who the heck does she think she is, telling me _I'm_ ungrateful? Hmmm?" she asked turning to them.

They didn't know what to say so they shrugged and continued to watch her.

"I'm not ungrateful. Did you know that every year I renegotiate Ginny's contract for her… for free? I'm the reason they live in a rebuilt house in the burrow… I paid for it! Did you know that?" they shook their heads.

"Half of those gizmos the twins sell were my ideas! I told them they could patent it under their names! Ungrateful INDEED! I never asked them for anything…anything." She slurred and continued, "Wanna hear something awful?" They nodded.

"Pansy is the only person other than Draco and you two… and Mrs. Malfoy… which if you think about it is just ludicrous considering all of our history, but I digress, Pansy and you all are the only people with which I feel a connection." She laughed a self deprecating laugh, "I mean I love Remus and Sirius…. Love them with all my heart, but Sirius is a 14 year old trapped in a mans body, Remus is his smart subdued boyfriend… Harry, well what can I say, he goes from one extreme to the other, _I will save the world_ mode to _I'm folding under the pressure_ mode. It is an emotionally taxing roller coaster being around him 24/7. Ron…." She snorted but said nothing.

"Molly nags more than any person on the face of the earth and she quite closed minded almost relishing in her lack of education. It's …annoying."

Severus could think of another word, but decided he'd let her have annoying.

"I told them I was marrying Draco and starting a company and Ginny laughed at me. She said there were too many pureblood nuances that I didn't know for them to just let me in and start breaking curses or customizing spells. She said I would never be accepted." She whispered that last part and downed the last of her drink.

She flopped back and sniffled, "Hermione?"

Nothing.

"Hermione?"

Sniffling.

Lucius decided to speak after Severus didn't get a response, "Hermione, they aren't good enough for you. Whether you like it or not, there are classes of people regardless of blood purity and you are in the 'upper' part and they are not. Don't waste your tears on people that can't possibly appreciate your worth."

Draco was standing at the door looking disheveled, but he remained quiet until his father was done speaking.

He walked over and kneeled down, "Hey sweet angel."

Sniffle Sniffle, "Hey." She said quietly.

"Will you come to bed?" he asked

She nodded. He scooped her up and carried her off like her own personal knight in shining armor.

Severus and Lucius looked after and continued to sit in silence both contemplating how to seek revenge on the red headed tribe without getting caught.

(**A/N:** _ok I might need another chapter and then the epilogue – this kind of took on a life of its own. Sorry_.)


	17. long chapter

(**A/N:** when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.)

He walked up the stairs cradling her close, her nails softly brushing over his nipple – it was driving him mad with desire. He almost tripped when she pinched it lightly, but steadied himself in time. He looked down at her to find her eyes closed with a shy smile on her face as she gently raked her nails over his chest.

He moaned. She smirked.

He opened the door and kicked it shut behind him. He placed her gently on the bed positioning himself atop of her resting his weight on his elbows his fingers playing with her hair.

She looked at him through heavy lidded eyes, "Can we have sex again?" she asked innocently enough, but in her drunken state the art of seductive whispers and romantic gestures took a leave of absence.

Draco snorted and then answered, "mmm hmm."

"Good. Draco?"

"hmmm?" his lips were currently placing tiny kisses on her neck.

"I'm not wearing any knickers." She whispered and her tone was dangerously close to mischievous.

He stopped and looked at her for a moment before his mouth descended upon hers; his knees pushed her legs apart and he positioned his body in between her thighs.

He pressed inside of her relishing in how wet and tight she was – how perfect he fit inside her warmth.

He moved slowly at first, letting her meet his thrusts with her hips.

"Harder Draco… "She was panting and squeezing his back with her hands.

He complied of course, but he knew this was going to end soon, "Touch yourself, Hermione." He whispered knowing she would never agree to such a thing sober… he wanted to see her cum.

She paused for a moment and after a particularly hard thrust that had the both of them moaning in pleasure she lowered her hand slowly and felt for the swollen nub.

She rubbed it cautiously at first, but the overwhelmingly pleasant feeling she got from the combination of him filling and stretching her to her fingers deftly working her clit made her spread her legs and arch her back.

Draco was in heaven; he leaned up to watch her. The shirt, _his_ shirt, was unbuttoned but still around her shoulders, it was open in the front showing him her breasts, stomach and hand moving in rhythm to his thrusting hips.

"Draco... Draco…." She called breathlessly

"Cum for me angel." He said pumping faster.

It was the most explosive orgasm he had ever seen, she didn't make a sound, only froze and closed her eyes, but he could feel her inner walls clamp down hard on his member making it more difficult to move.

It proved to be too much for him and he came in the next instance bellowing her name.

Afterwards they lay there in each other arms falling asleep peacefully.

***

She woke up at dawn feeling fine, only a slight headache. She took care of that quickly enough drinking pepper up potion. She decided to call out of work again; she needed to see Severus and was also trying to figure how to quit her job without burning any bridges. She also needed to talk to her potential new clients.

She put on her running gear and sat at the desk to scratch out a note requesting a meeting for later today.

She also wrote to Severus letting him know she would be over today. He was an early riser so she didn't worry about the owl waking him up.

She was brushing her teeth when Lolly came in humming and opening the curtains. She heard Draco moan followed by their usual conversation about sunlight and positive spirits.

She threw her hair up in a pony tail and donned her Gryffindor cap - same one Lolly had transfigured.

She jumped on the bed and started jumping around him, making him curse and struggle to get up.

He muttered something about evil females and stumbled into the bathroom coming out a few minutes later in his running gear ready for the morning.

They met Lucius on the way downstairs and Draco groaned dramatically, but continued on, "How far are we going today?" she asked.

"We'll do the same as last time until you get used to it." He said.

They came back a little over an hour later; Draco and Hermione went out to the patio, while he did pull-ups and she went to work alternating between sit ups and pushups. Lucius usually went for a swim after running.

Narcissa was waiting for all of them at the table for breakfast when they came down shortly after showers and getting dressed.

Draco and Lucius were dressed in suits and Hermione was wearing yellow silk pants with a white button down silk shirt and navy blue pumps. Her hair was in a braid and she wore Sapphire earrings, a navy blue short scarf, her charm bracelet and her engagement ring. She looked a little casual, but still professional.

"What are your plans today?" Draco asked wondering why she wasn't dressed in a suit as per her usual.

"I am taking the day off to run some errands." She said noncommittally.

Before anyone could respond Lolly popped in to hand Hermione rolled parchment, "thanks Lolly."

"Yes miss."

Hermione smiled, "I'm meeting with a potential client today and meeting up with Severus. Then I thought I would hang out with you, Mrs. Malfoy and we could over wedding details, if you are free?"

Narcissa smiled gleefully, "Yes of course. It's early yet, I'll owl Twilfitt and Tatting's to look at fabrics then make our way to Sera's Sweet Delights to look at cakes. We'll take a late lunch at Cavarelli's." she said.

Hermione paused, "Isn't Cavarelli's … umm hard to … get into?" she didn't _want_ to say it.

"Why dear, whatever do you mean, we've been dining there for ages." Narcissa responded with a smile and then it faded.

"I know a wonderful place… in muggle London. Will you trust me?" Hermione asked timidly.

Narcissa smiled thankful for the suggestion, "Yes. It will be an adventure." She said.

Lucius and Draco mentally wiped there brow thankful for the near miss.

"Who's the potential client?" Lucius asked.

Hermione smiled, "Gringotts."

Forks clanked on plates as both men stared at her, "How did you manage that?" Draco asked.

"Well, Griphook was a …friend and Goblins fall under my division. They love Pansy."

"We'll need to meet this evening and go over the contractual obligations for the consulting firm so I can send it to my barrister for review." Lucius said.

"Why are you meeting with Severus?" Draco asked apparently filled with questions today.

"I'm decorating his home." She said.

They all paused mid bite, "What?" Draco again.

"He doesn't want to move, but doesn't want to live in a house in disrepair. So I agreed to help spruce it up."

"Décor charms are difficult, you are familiar with them?" Narcissa asked with excitement.

"Yes, during our time… on the run, I had trouble sleeping or it would be my turn for guard duty… anyway, I would be awake. Luckily I had taken some books to teach me the complicated decoration charms and practiced the entire time we were out." Hermione said.

Lucius asked the next burning questions, "Hermione, forgive my presumption, but why did you feel instruction on décor charms would assist the Golden Trio or Duo as the case may be during your… search?" Lucius, of course knew, like everyone else in the wizarding world that Ron had left them and that he eventually returned.

"I knew it would do nothing to aide in the search for horcruxes, it was a selfish endeavor, _I_ needed something to allow my mind to rest." She answered.

"So you learned difficult and complex charms?" Draco asked clearly baffled at her choice of relaxation techniques and then he turned to his father, "I will never understand the Gryffindor mind.

"I believe it had little to do with their inner Gryffindor. As I understand it Mr. Potter was going to be placed in Slytherin, but talked the sorting hat into Gryffindor and Hermione was to be placed in Ravenclaw, but again the sorting hat was talked into Gryffindor. Correct?" Lucius explained.

"Yes sir." She said.

"Hermione, I have a proposition for you." Narcissa said with a sly smile after the conversation lulled.

Just then the wards shifted and a moment later Pansy walked in escorted by Pippa, "Good morning Malfoy family!" she said.

They greeted her similarly.

She sat next to Hermione, her magic bouncing around her in sparks, "Guess what?"

Hermione poured her friend some coffee – made just the way she liked it (dollop of milk two sugars) and handed it to the excited girl.

Hermione was just about to engage when the wards shifted again and Pippa walked in with Millicent and Ginny.

No greeting was forthcoming from Ginny, though Millicent said hello.

"Hermione I need the contract, it's due soon." She said.

Hermione pulled it out of her leather folder and handed it to Ginny without a word.

Ginny looked it over quickly and spoke, "What did you change?"

"Nothing. There conditions are very cut and dry. Apparently you have the reputation for being …difficult. You aren't going to get a better offer."

"I see. Now that you have money, you don't want to help your friends." Ginny sneered.

"Friends?" Pansy cut in standing up, "she reviewed that contract and then asked me _as a favor _to review it also. She also requested that I check on your marketability, which _I_ did. She did this for free, but I am not so generous with my time. You will receive a bill from me and you will pay it within 30 days or I will see you in court. Consider yourself officially notified." Pansy finished glaring at the red head.

"You can't officially notify me in this way Parkinson!"

"It's Potter and yes I can. Didn't Hermione tell you? I mastered in business law and received my accreditation a few months ago." She tilted her head at Ginny Weasley in mock sympathy.

Pansy was close to giggling insanely and would have had Hermione not jumped out of her seat and squealed in joy. Hugs Hugs and more Hugs filled the room as congratulations were offered to the new Mrs. Potter.

Ginny just stood there, now feeling slightly uncomfortable, "come on Mills let's go."

Mills paused and looked at Ginny, "No. I didn't tell you before, but I declined the contract renewal. I shan't be returning to Quidditch… or you." She added quietly.

***

Hours later, after all the drama, Hermione found herself looking at the most expensive silks imaginable in the color purple. They decided on a plum color and a design for the maid of honor dress - Pansy.

The flowers would be lilac and orchids as primary flowers and the filler would be cream and Ivory.

Hermione was measured for her wedding dress and then the ladies sat down and went over exactly what she wanted it to look like.

Luckily that part was fairly easy as Hermione had always loved the movie My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn; her coming out dress to the ball was something Hermione had pictured her wedding dress to look like.

Narcissa agreed whole heartedly when Hermione showed her a picture of it.

Classic. Simple. Elegant.

Now the cake.

They arrived at Sera's and inhaled the aroma from the baking sweets. The two ladies spent time looking at a catalogue of sorts writing down things they liked about the cakes pictured and what they didn't like. Finally, after an hour of hunger pains and indecision they ordered the three tier cake and exited the shop.

Narcissa and Hermione had talked the entire day, most of it about the wedding, but their conversation ventured into thoughts and opinions on politics, the Weasleys, Hermione's parents, and Narcissa's family.

Narcissa felt a little uncomfortable at first sitting in the muggle restaurant, but she had to admit, it was lovely and she felt safe with Hermione; knowing her soon-to-be daughter-in-law wouldn't allow a muggle to assault her. Not that they would, but Narcissa had always held a slight fear for muggles.

After they ordered Hermione smiled at Narcissa and held her gaze, "your proposition?" she asked dying of curiosity.

"I am also proficient at décor charms, actually more than proficient, I decorated the Manor." She said.

"By yourself?" Hermione asked in shock. The charms were complicated and required a very focused mind. It was taxing.

"Yes. I've always wanted to be a business woman – to make my own money. I'm not unhappy, mind you, but it's been a dream of mine. I researched it a few years ago, looking for someone with a talent for the charms to engage as a partner, but came up empty – at least I didn't find anyone that I felt comfortable sharing a business." Narcissa paused.

"Would you be interested?" Narcissa asked.

Hermione nearly choked on her water, "you mean partnering? …in a home design business?"

"Yes."

Hermione took a few moments for thought. She would be quitting her job and starting up her company, but with Draco and Severus as partners and the use of Lucius' barrister, she would be busy, but not exceedingly so, "How many clients are we talking and how often?"

Narcissa took a sip of her wine, "We would take on only one client every six months or so. There should be a waiting list; I don't plan to make my talents available to just anyone." She sniffed and Hermione wanted to laugh.

Hermione smiled, "We could do this. If you wanted to be independent of Mr. Malfoy, we could use Pansy as our barrister. She'd love that."

Narcissa's eyes lit up, "I like that idea. I also have two potential clients."

"Already?"

"The Rosier's and the Notts." Narcissa declared proudly.

"What shall we call ourselves?" Hermione asked.

"By Design."

Hermione laughed at how Slytherin that was and asked her partner, "shall I call Pansy right now? …and do you want to pop by Severus' and see what I did this morning?"

"Yes and Yes."

Pansy came a few minutes later in time for a late lunch and contracts at the basic level. She agreed to act on their behalf and they negotiated a fee for service and general retainer fee. Pansy left with the title documentation, signed contracts, and a basic business outline that Hermione would undoubtedly update when she had a moment.

***

Narcissa didn't like this neighborhood, it was creepy.

Hermione walked up to the door and knocked. She heard the familiar lock and grumbling and smiled when he opened the door.

"Hermione and Narcissa. Come in please." He said opening the door wide enough for them to enter but not wide enough for anyone to see into his home.

Narcissa wrinkled her nose a bit, but didn't say anything, "The kitchen." Hermione said smiling.

Narcissa noticed that even Severus was smiling.

They walked into a large, bright kitchen that was so contrary to the rest of the dingy home Narcissa didn't want to leave.

The cabinets were light colored wood with stainless steel counter tops and brushed nickel accessories. All of his appliances were black and Hermione had been able to modify the size of the room to include a small sunroom.

Those extension charms were difficult as she had to include plumbing and pipes with them.

The walls were a linen white color which made the room feel clean and large, but not blind you with a tundra of white.

His floor was a grey slate and he loved it. The rooms were masculine in feel, but also had very clean lines and elegant furnishing.

"The next room is the living room and library." Hermione said excitedly.

"I get a library?" Severus asked immediately interested.

"Yes sir."

***

_Six weeks went by_; she quit her job at the Ministry and finished decorating and remodeling Severus' home – leaving him very pleased with her and his living space.

They sealed the contract for the Grigotts task – a contract length of 2 years due to the amount of custom protection spells they needed.

Normally the vaults were protected by dragons, however Grigotts was getting pressure a mythical animal rights organization called Witches for the Ethical Treatment of Dragons (a.k.a WET Dragons) so the ancient bank hired the S3M (**S**nape **3** **M**alfoys) firm to construct the strong protection spells necessary in safeguarding the vaults that resided within it's walls.

Severus and Draco were currently working on the foundation charms and Hermione would step in later with the custom identity layers. They had consulted with Lucius twice when they encountered spells Draco and Hermione had never seen and Severus couldn't undo on his own.

Narcissa and Hermione began working on Madam Rosier's remodel of the ballrooms in her castle (there were four) and signed another contract for the Notts master suite (large enough to house a small army-battle gear and all).

They attended the reception held for Harry and Pansy; the couple found out they were pregnant and wanted Draco and Hermione to be Godparents.

Life was good.

X

X

X

She was walking to Flourish and Botts to order some books for research purposes when a hand came around her waist and apperated with her in tow.

She landed on the ground with an ooommph, "What the…!"

She looked up and stopped.

There smirking at her was a tall red head and he didn't look happy to see her.

"You know what, Hermione?"

Silence.

_Oh he waiting for me to respond…right_, "What?" she asked dutifully.

"I hate people constantly asking me why we didn't get together. Lav left me, did you know?"

She shook her head.

"She decided that I still had feelings for you. She was right of course, I do have feelings for you, just not the ones she was thinking – I have never felt such… irritation at one person in my entire life.

Even Malfoy, he doesn't inspire the irritation that you do. I can't get your stupid, beautiful, stupid face out of my mind! Why do you think that is?" he asked almost casually, which was unnerving after his rant.

"I don't know I…"

"No, don't speak! Your voice is irritating too, like a song I can't get out of my head. I've been reflecting on our school days and our time together as a whole and know what conclusion I came to?

You think you're better than everyone else."

Silence.

_Was he expecting some kind of kudos? A cookie maybe?_ She thought.

"George and Looney told me to just let it go; that we aren't children anymore; that they don't understand why I'm angry. You know why I'm angry, Mione?"

She shook her head.

"I'm alone. I don't have anyone." She made a break for it not knowing where she was going just scrambled and started feeling the walls for a door.

"DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME! STUPEFY!" He yelled, he knew she couldn't get out; he had disillusioned all the doors, but it was the principal of the thing.

"and now I'm tired 'mione. I'm tired of you running around in my head. I'm tired of always taking second place and I'm tired of being treated like I'm stupid. Crucio."

***

"UGH!" Draco placed a hand over his stomach and folded over.

He was breathing heavily, "It's Hermione. Something is severely wrong."

"What was she doing today?" Severus asked.

"She was planning to order some research books and then she had a meeting with father."

Draco was having trouble breathing and then the cramps started; he fell to his knee.

***

Sirius vomited; lucky he made it to the loo in time, "Sirius, what's wrong?" Remus asked.

"It's not me, its Hermione."

They had long ago connected the floo from the Black Family library to Malfoy Manor library.

"Malfoy!" Remus called.

"Mr. Lupin?" Lucius answered.

"Something is wrong with Hermione, Is she there?"

Lucius frowned; she _was_ late for their meeting, which is very unlike her, "No, but she's late for a meeting. Will you step through?"

In the next moment, Remus stepped through and Severus half carrying a very pale Draco came bursting through the door. Remus took one look at Draco and nodded, "Sirius is in a similar condition."

Draco was holding his stomach and grimacing as the wave of nausea and cramps passed.

"Draco you must reach out to her with your magic. We won't know where she is unless you focus." Lucius said encouraging his son in soothing tones as only a father could.

Draco took deep breathes and concentrated on her smell, her face, her smile; tears were streaming down his cheeks, but he was unaware.

His magic touched on something, the pain was going away – Sirius stepped through and plopped tiredly in the nearest chair worried, "the pain is going away, and not in a good way." He whispered to Remus.

Draco tried again focusing on where his magic was going, he could almost see the trail of light it left in its wake; his mind followed it cautiously until he reached the familiarity of her magic.

It was slowly pulsing, which worried him, her magic was usually very strong; it vibrated with its energy. He called to it and it responded.

She was scared, wandless and in pain… and something else…

Suddenly there was a change in her magic, it was coming closer, "she's traveling, apperating?" Draco said vaguely aware that he wasn't being clear.

The wards shifted and they all ran outside to find a battered girl dumped near the Malfoy gates. Her pretty outfit dirtied and torn.

She was unconscious but alive – they all thought the same thing, there was so much blood. Draco scooped her up and apperated her St. Mungo's.

***

Four hours later the healer came out, who happened to be a friend of Hermione's, "She'll be ok. She needs to rest. She was beaten pretty badly; it's good thing that the crucio used wasn't very strong , but still …we weren't able to save the baby."

"Baby?" Draco whispered. His father immediately clamped his hand on his son's shoulder and Severus pulled up a chair for Draco to sit down.

Sirius and Remus just groaned knowing she would be crushed, Pansy was in tears and Harry slumped his shoulders and rubbed his wife's belly without noticing what he was doing.

"Yes, she was around 5 weeks; I would be surprised if she even knew yet."

"Can I see her?" he asked

"Yes this way."

Draco entered the dimly lit room and his eyes fell upon the small slender figure under the sheets looking pale, "Mya?"

"Hey." She croaked and a tear fell, "did you hear?"

He didn't trust himself to speak yet, but his eyes were watery and he squeezed her hand and nodded.

He was standing by her bedside blaming himself for not protecting her, when she lifted the covers and scooted over.

"I don't want to hurt you." He said pulling back.

Her grip tightened, "I want to feel you near me, you're my mate and I want you here." She tried to sound stern, but it was weak. He smirked a little kicking off his shoes he climbed under and pulled her close.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered.

She turned to face him and dried the tears from his cheeks, "please don't do that. I'm a big girl and he's someone who got obsessed. I should have been more aware, but _you_ have nothing to be sorry for, except for not getting into this bed immediately."

***

It took a few weeks for her to recover and she was escorted most of the time by anyone of the Malfoys, Black, Lupin, Potters, and/or Snape… she was getting annoyed, but was also flattered.

Ron was captured and sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for kidnap, assault and battery and the use of an unforgiveable.

***

Three days until her wedding, she didn't think she would make it there with her sanity in check.

She had mourned the baby, but it didn't take her long to look at the positive side – she was healthy, young and could get pregnant again; she hadn't known she was pregnant so the idea was foreign to her.

Draco was protective and loving. He ended up sending a very nasty howler to Mrs. Weasley for raising such a git! – as that is all Hermione would allow him to do.

Severus and Lucius floo'd in one afternoon looking quite smug.

She was sitting in the gardens with some iced tea looking every bit the pampered Malfoy witch.

Sometime back she had decided she loved the way silk felt against her skin and resigned herself to only buy silk clothes, it was her gift to herself. To say that Narcissa was proud was to state the painfully obvious. Lucius and Draco just rolled their eyes good-naturedly at their mates and went on with life. Today she was wearing pink silk shorts with a yellow silk top – she looked adorable.

The two men sat in lounges beside her, "How are you today?" she asked them.

"We have some news, but I'll let you read." Lucius said and handed her the scroll.

_By Order of Court, The deed and trust of 'The Burrow' located in __Ottery St. Catchpole__ in __Devon__, __England__, is hereby sealed and transferred to its owner Hermione Granger._

"What?" she asked.

"You mentioned that you paid for the burrow to be rebuilt, correct?"

She nodded.

"Well that entitled you to own it. They never paid a dime for the dwelling and would have had to find another place to live had you not offered to have it rebuilt. They owe you rent." Severus said.

"Do they know?" she asked wondering how angry Molly was.

"Yes they received a copy this morning with a warning that if any damage became of the property they would be liable." Lucius stated and leaned back smugly, "I feel so …satisfied." He said.

"Yes, it is quite satisfying isn't it?" Severus said.

She couldn't do anything but laugh.

Molly was angry, but not enough to jeopardize her family's home.

Lucius and Severus, her dark knights, had another surprise. She was now the proud stakeholder of the Quidditch National Coucil. She would be overseeing contract renewals.

Ginny was not happy about this and sent a howler to her former friend to which she was fined a healthy sum for assaulting 'the management'.

***

Hermione was pacing. She couldn't stop. This morning was like every other morning with the exception that she woke alone and ran with Lucius. He took it easy on her today and they only ran 20 kilometers at a fairly slow pace.

She felt good and nervous. She was shaking and fanning herself. She was jolted out of her panic when Pansy, Narcissa and Minerva Macgonagall walked in, "It looks like a basket filled with plums exploded out there!" Pansy said sarcastically.

Minerva chuckled and Narcissa smacked Pansy on the arm, "Ow. You can't abuse the Matron of Honor, Mrs. Malfoy. Its written somewhere."

This made them all smile.

"Looks like you found one that wasn't intimidated, Hermione." The Headmistress of Hogwarts told her favorite student.

The music cued letting everyone know it was starting. Minerva smiled and kissed Hermione's cheek, Narcissa grasped both Hermione's hands in hers and squeezed – she had tears in her eyes.

Earlier Narcissa had given her a beautiful diamond necklace to wear for the wedding, _something borrowed_. Lucius had given it to her as a wedding gift so many years ago to his new bride. Hermione was speechless, luckily Pansy had spelled her make-up to not run or smear or she would have resembled a raccoon.

Pansy was next; she only smiled at her friend and left the room.

***

Narcissa walked down the aisle nodding to the violinist. She was a vision in lilac. Her dress fit her perfectly showing off her beautiful figure and portraying her innate grace. She held a white orchid in her hand.

Pansy walked down the aisle with Blaise Zabini. She was wearing a simple purple sheath dress that clung to her curves loosely. Harry thought she was stunning and promised himself he would buy her more clothes in that color. Her hair was swept up in a chignon held in place with a silver clip. Amethyst jewelry and a white orchid finished the picture.

Blaise was wearing traditional black wedding robes for the groomsmen with the exception of a purple cravat matching Pansy's dress and a white orchid on his lapel.

Draco's wedding robes were exactly the same as Blaises with the exception of his cravat, it was white and he wore a lilac in his lapel.

Hermione walked to the arch and met the man that would give her away.

_****flashback****_

"I need to ask you something." She said nervously.

He sighed; as he was want to do, "Sit. Tell me." He said per the usual with her and turned to make them some tea.

"I would like to ask a favor." She said.

He stiffened, but nodded for her to continue. Had it been anyone else aside from his Godson or Lucius to ask a favor he would have thrown them out, but the fact was that he really cared for this girl so he listened.

She knew he hated lengthy explanations so she just said it, "Willyougivemeawayatmywedding?"

Silence.

"Repeat that." He wasn't sure he heard her correctly, but really he had.

"Would you give me away at my wedding?" she asked again slowly this time.

He was moved to the point of speechless and his next words came out harsher than anticipated, "Why me?" he barked.

She misinterpreted, "ummm I'm sorry, I'll just go." She said stifling a sob and standing.

"No, I mean 'why me' in a good way, not 'why me' in a bad way?" he clarified in a jumble of words he hoped she understood.

She turned, "Because you're the one, Severus. You helped me when no one else would. You've never asked anything of me only challenged me to be better. Who else would I ask?"

"Black, Lupin, Potter…" he ticked off.

She smiled a smile that said you-are-a-silly-man, "All fine choices for someone else. Will you do this for me, Severus?"

He nodded, he couldn't speak and it wouldn't do for the former death eater to be brought to tears by this chit of a girl.

She hugged him fiercely and he returned it.

_****end flashback****_

Severus looked handsome and he smiled when she walked up, "Ready?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and together they walked down the aisle to her beautiful mate.

***

When Draco saw her he was unable to breathe, after a moment he was pretty sure he would pass out, but thankfully Blaise saw his red face and almost blue lips and slapped him on the back …hard. That's what best men were for after all.

She scowled. The audience snickered.

His father was smacked in the chest by his mother with her closed fan for chuckling.

The ceremony was quick; they spoke traditional vows and bonding.

They were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and turned to face the crowd. She was surprised when the beautiful black griffin came walking up the aisle and Draco climbed on waiting for her.

She paused. Didn't he know she hated flying? She thought. But it took too long so he reached over and grabbed her sitting her on his lap while the beast took flight.

The bride and groom rode into the sunset with the groom, his groomsmen, his father and Harry Potter laughing while the Bride screamed bloody murder.

(**A/N:** epilogue is next. whew!)


	18. epilogue

(**A/N:** Draco's nagging voice in my head is fading…thank Merlin! Maybe he'll stop bothering the crap out of me now that I have their story on paper… he _is_ quite vain. Last one folks, thanks for accompanying me on this DM/HG Veela adventure!)

_**Epilogue**_

Hermione wrapped up the day with her last patient at St. Mungo's. She had made a promise to herself that for six weeks every summer she would work as a healer, helping as many as she could while still giving quality care. Throughout the year she kept abreast of the latest healing technique, potions and trends in the medi-witch world. She was usually eager to practice her newly acquired knowledge and always looked forward to her work there.

"Well Mr. Latimer, It looks like Gout." She told the man looking him over with a mildly disapproving stare.

"Isn't that a muggle disease?" he asked and seemed to be genuinely curious rather than superior.

"Not entirely. It's not commonly seen in the wizarding communities, but it isn't rare either. So, here's what I want you to do" she paused and turned to open a cabinet taking out two small vials of red substance, "drink this tomorrow morning after you eat and this one after dinner – that will reduce the swelling in your joints. Secondly, I am referring you to a nutritionist." She looked him in the eye as she said this to make sure he was listening.

"I want you to stick to whatever diet she puts you on. I apologize for being blunt, Mr. Latimer, but you need to lose some weight. The extra pounds are putting too much pressure on your body and your health is declining."

He nodded sullenly.

"Third, I want you to reduce the amount of alcohol you consume."

"What??"

"Please Mr. Latimer, don't drink as much." She plied.

He was mumbling, but nodded anyway, "You know Healer Malfoy, you're a beautiful woman, but you're awful bossy."

She smirked (could be construed as 'the Malfoy smirk', but she didn't want to get cocky), "So I've been told. Now off with you."

He ambled away and she cleaned up her station. She was tired and had a raging head-ache.

Even after bonding with her husband her Veela senses were still amplified and all the smells the hospital contained contributed her current state of fatigue.

She sighed, her last patient until next summer; she looked at her watch, she couldn't go home yet, she still had to get something for Draco. It was their first anniversary.

She smiled.

He almost didn't make it a day as her husband considering she almost Avada'd his stupid arse for dragging her on a griffin ride as their wedding send off.

She hadn't been able to feel him for a week, their bond seemed …wonky. She chalked it up to her working so many long hours these past six weeks that hadn't focused on it as much.

They realized something funny after they had been married for a few months. She and Draco could sense each other's emotions and physical state – not keenly, but it was there; and she and Sirius could sense each other in extreme situations. Well, with her being a conduit Sirius and Draco could sense each other too and they didn't like that at all.

They realized this fun fact after Sirius had fallen smitten with a certain witch. His emotions were similar to a love struck teen ager.

Not only did Hermione feel it, Draco did too, she would see him smile like a dope in the oddest of circumstances. Gringotts meetings, breakfast, consulting meeting with Severus; when she realized it made her laugh and them grimace.

It had faded a bit, but still occurred sometimes.

She closed up and walked to the apparition point.

***

The gates opened as she passed through the wards and she walked up to the door. The Manor was quiet as she expected; it was quite late.

She climbed the stairs to their room. There he was. The love of her life, sound asleep. She was still struck by how beautiful he was.

She took a quick shower to wash off St. Mungo's and climbed into bed wearing only her panties.

She curled next to him and he moved to accommodate her. She was facing him so her bare breasts pressed up against his shirtless and muscled chest, "mmmmmm" he purred wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair.

She smiled when she felt more than heard him purring.

"hey." He croaked then cleared his throat.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late."

"s'ok. Tired?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, but I missed you."

"Me too."

They made love slowly as the clock clicked over ringing at midnight, "Happy Anniversary sweet angel." He said kissing the top of her head.

"Happy anniversary. Draco?" she whispered

"Hmmm?" His eyes were closed, his face relaxed his breathing steady, but he was still awake… barely.

"I have something for you."

He opened one eye and peered at her sideways, "you want to give it to me now?" he knew her, when she had something she wanted to do it would bother her until she accomplished it. So his question was without surprise or irritation – he was just asking for clarification.

"Not exactly."

"You don't want to give it to me now?" he was getting a little confused.

"I do, but I can't." she said

"…but you want to …what?" he asked now with both eyes open.

She closed her eyes and swallowed.

She took his hand and moved it slowly down her body and settled it over her lower abdomen. The flat of his hand was splayed across her tummy with her two smaller hands resting on top of his.

She looked at him teary eyed, "We're going to have a baby."

His hand tensed as her words and gesture sunk in, "We're gonna have a…. We're gonna have a baby!" He stood suddenly shouting 'We're gonna have a baby!' and jumping on the bed.

She was laughing when he bent down and picked her up. She squealed and held on.

"I love you I love you I love you I love you" he said over and over again raining kisses over her face and neck.

He jumped down off the bed (still holding her) and set her down gently, "I have to tell father." He swung his robe over his shoulders.

"Draco it's after midnight. We can tell them in the morning."

"No. no. He'll want to know now… and mum too!" he said excitedly throwing the door open and running down the halls, up the stairs, down that hall to their door (Draco and Hermione East Wing – Lucius and Narcissa West Wing. Narcissa thought it only fitting that the young couple live where the sun rises and the older live where the sun sets.)

BANG! BANG! BANG!

FATHER!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

After a few moments, Draco heard movement and grumbling, a wand being dropped, cursing and the door flung open with a menacing, albeit disheveled Lucius Malfoy standing there in black silk pajama pants and no shirt.

When the man focused his eyes grew wide in alarm, "Are you ok? Is Hermione?" he asked in quick succession.

"We're going to have a baby. She's pregnant." Draco relayed the message with a wide grin.

His father smiled in return and hugged his son proudly.

"Cissa!"

His mother was more refined after being woken up suddenly and replied like she had been awake reading, "Yes dear?"

"Cissa, Hermione's pregnant. They're going to have our grandchild." Lucius said with a grin that mirrored his son.

"Oh!" she got out of bed pulled her robe over her and walked briskly to her son throwing her arms around him, "That's wonderful!"

After a little more discussion they all went back to bed and Draco returned to a sleeping Hermione.

She was hugging his pillow (something she did when he wasn't there. It held his scent, calming her enough to sleep) and breathing deeply.

He climbed in pulling his pillow from her tight grasp. She growled, "shhshhh. It's me" he said not wanting to wake her or unwittingly turn her into a harpy for taking her pillow away.

She curled into him putting her nose in the crook of his neck. He loved it when she did that.

Together they fell asleep.

The next morning she walked out of the bathroom wearing her running gear and pulling her hair into a pony tail. He had walked out a minute ago. She was annoyed that he had left her, but thought he was just excited and wanted to see his father again.

She walked downstairs ready to go.

"What are you doing?" her husband asked.

"Same thing I always do. What are you doing?" she responded looking at him curiously.

"You're pregnant." He said like that explained his attitude this morning.

"Thank you captain obvious, I'm aware." She snapped.

"You can't go running. What about swimming?" he suggested.

"I don't want to swim. I want to run for as long as I am comfortable." She said.

"…but the baby." He said

"Is fine. Running is fine. The baby is well protected there inside me."

"I want to hear that from a healer." He retorted.

"I _am_ a healer." She said exasperated.

"Another healer!"

"Ah there you two are." Lucius called coming down the stairs. He picked his daughter-in-law up bringing her shoulders level to his and hugged her enthusiastically.

She couldn't help but laugh and hug him back.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

Draco leaned in, he hadn't asked last night he was too excited, but now he wanted to know.

"yes." she said as he set her back down. She looked over her shoulder to her husband, who was trying to look casual, but failing miserably at it, and narrowed her eyes, "but I'm not going to say just yet."

"WHAT! Why not?" Draco shouted.

"Because I, Healer Malfoy, performed the test and apparently my word AS A HEALER is not good enough for my thick-headed husband! So you don't get to know." She turned back to Lucius and mouthed 'A Girl'. He smiled and nodded. He was thrilled and trying not to demonstrate that fact. Everyone knew he wanted a girl, but he and Narcissa were not able to have anymore due to the curse.

Draco was trying to read his fathers' expression, but couldn't. He was about to yell back at his fiery little wife, but his mother came down the stairs and gathered Hermione in a hug.

Narcissa had heard the whole thing, but didn't see what Hermione had mouthed to Lucius, so she pulled back and questioned Hermione with her eyes.

Hermione smiled and mouth the same thing she did Lucius. Narcissa was good at remaining expressionless, but this was testing her resolve.

"Excuse me." she said following her husband to the study. Once inside they placed a silencing charm and she squealed with delight jumping into his arms, which of course sparked an impromptu make-out session.

_While they were in there…_

"Please Hermione, how about we walk today and I'll make an appointment with the healer for this afternoon?" Draco asked.

"You are so… stubborn! FINE!" she said and then added, "I already made an appointment with a healer for this afternoon."

He smirked and they walked – for two hours, much to Draco's chagrin. She wanted to get _something_ out of it.

She was relieved when he didn't fuss at her for pushups and sit-ups.

***

_Five months later…_

She was barely showing, but she did have noticeable bump. Her clothes didn't fit her and her back hurt. The healers said she could run until she didn't feel comfortable any more, but she did have to limit her runs to those she was accustomed to. That meant no pushing her body faster or longer and no more running with Lucius.

She was disappointed; she really enjoyed the challenge with him.

Draco ran with her every day, their 8 mile loop. This morning she woke up feeling a little off, but donned her running gear and waited for her husband who was right behind her.

He rubbed her growing belly and kissed her good morning.

Her hormones were so out of control she deepened the kiss and pushed him back on the bed.

He never complained. He really enjoyed her new body and her raging hormones. He thought this as he stared up at her larger breasts and stared down at her riding him. That did it for him and he came taking hold of her hips to press her forward – she sighed as he felt her walls contract around him.

They donned their running gear for the second time that morning and walked out the door.

They made it about half way around when she stopped and folded over.

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"Just a cramp." She answered with furrowed brows.

"Let's walk it off and make an appointment. I'm not taking any chances." He said

They walked the rest of the way, it was nice. They held hands and talked about current projects and how Lucius was going baby crazy buying everything in sight for the new member of the Malfoy family. He even went to a muggle baby boutique to assess quality, but didn't buy anything.

The healer told her to take it easy, the baby was fine, the mother was tired and needed rest.

Two months later Hermione was much more pronounced and waddling, "Draco, let's go get some ice cream." She said.

That was her latest craving. Orange sherbert ice cream…. Every day.

Six weeks later Hermione was very subdued and it took Narcissa to run interference in order to allow Hermione some time to herself without having Lucius and Draco constantly under foot.

A week later Draco found his beloved sitting on the shower floor crying; her long blonde hair slicked back with the water (they had found a Veela healer when their bond seemed to have faded, but the Veela had told them that during pregnancy a bond is forming between the baby and it's parents – both parents, so the existing bond is secondary during that time.) He immediately sat down with her and pulled her and her round belly onto his lap, "What's wrong sweet angel?"

He was rubbing her stomach, his presence and touch calmed both his wife and his unborn daughter. Truth be told, it calmed him also.

"I'm scared. What if I'm a terrible mother? What if I don't say the right things or do the right things? What if she hates me at an early age?" she was crying again.

"I'm scared too, but know what makes me not scared? You. I know you will be a wonderful mother. We'll make mistakes, love, but that's ok, because she will be loved and smart and have the best mother anywhere." He said kissing her forehead.

"You're pretty great, you know that?"

He didn't hesitate, "Yes."

***

Later that night, "Draco?" she called softly

He was immediately awake, "yes love."

Her hiss was all that he needed as a reply. He grabbed her bag, told Lolly to let his parents know, picked his wife up cradling her to his chest and apperated to St. Mungo's.

***

Four hours later, "Push Hermione, this one's a long one. On my count ok – backwards from ten? Ready? Push – ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five – keep going you're … Oh she's crowning, push Hermione."

"OHHHhhh. I can't…" she whispered forlornly.

Draco was sitting behind her holding her up whispering words of encouragement, "Yes you can… keep going sweet angel."

"Hermione push, she's almost out." the healer urged.

Draco squeezed her tired shoulders, "Come on angel."

She pushed and their daughter entered the world beautiful and perfect.

Sarah Jane Malfoy was the apple of both her fathers and grandfathers eye.

***

_Four years later…_

Draco was standing in the garden at Malfoy Manor, he turned as a little girl squealed, "Daddy!" and ran into his arms.

She had platinum tresses that cascaded down her back and freckles. He picked up his giggling daughter, "Hi sweet Sarah. Where's mummy?"

"She's coming." The little girl responded laying her head on his broad shoulder.

When he looked up he watched a small woman with blonde hair like his and amber eyes, smile and walk towards him.

"Draco…" she whispered as he gathered her in for a kiss.

"I missed you" he told her, "what did the healer say?"

"I'm pregnant" she says and smiles the most radiant smile, "With twin boys."

He returns her smile and hugs both of his girls tight, never planning on letting either of them go.

(**A/N:** Thanks for reading. Now I can finish my other stories! :^))


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